Abstract: The demand for plant protein continues to increase due to the growing population, economic-friendly environment, and their nutritional benefits. The consumers perceive legumes as tasty, healthy and a good source of protein. Besides the plant-based meat, there is a growing trend recently on the market for plant-based Jerky, infant formula, snack food, pet food, etc. Soy and pea proteins are the most common legume proteins and have been widely applied to replace or partially- replace the animal proteins in food applications. Protein functional properties such as water and oil holding capacity, solubility, emulsifying properties, gelation etc. could be changed by different processing (drying, extraction, defatting) and modifications (chemical, physical, enzymatical), which can be used to broaden the application of protein in food industry. Both processing and modifications change protein structures by affecting the hydrophobicity/ hydrophilicity balance, inter and intro-molecular interactions, size, shape, and sequences. Protein functional properties are the intrinsic key factors to influence the end- product quality, texture, and sensory profiles. Therefore, understanding the contribution of protein structures and interactions on functional properties will allow us to modulate structures and achieve more desirable functionalities to be widely applied in applications.
