Electrospinning has recently gained increasing attention as a novel technique for producing polymer nanofibers for various application. Particularly within the food industry, these nanoscale fibrils have shown promising potential as structural building blocks in development of plant-based meat analogies, aiming to replicate the fibrous texture of conventional meat. Electrospun nanofibers has been produced using plant-based proteins like zein and soy, however, the use of non-food grade reagents and toxic organic solvents has significantly limited their applicability in food products.

In this study, soluble protein factions were first extracted from three commercial legume protein ingredients. Food-grade pullulan was incorporated at a protein-to-pullulan ratio of 50:12(w/w) to enhance solution viscosity and optimize surface tension and conductivity for electrospinning. Nanofibers were successfully produced using an applied voltage of 24 kV and a flow rate of 0.3mL/h. The resulting nanofibers were subsequently characterized in terms of their structural features, physicochemical properties, and nutritional composition. Key parameters investigated included protein-protein interactions, sulfhydryl content, surface hydrophilicity, secondary structure, thermal stability, protein solubility, and amino acid profiles.

The results revealed that electrospinning altered the structural arrangement of the protein-pullulan blends. Proteins with more disordered conformations tended to form more robust nanofibers. Denaturation and aggregation of proteins were observed, accompanied by the formation of new interactions between protein and pullulan. These structural modifications contributed to enhanced thermal stability. Moreover, changes in protein profiles indicated the formation of larger molecular weight protein complexes. While the total protein content remained largely unaffected, electrospinning significantly influenced the amino acid composition.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to successfully produce edible nanofibers from legume proteins and pullulan without using any harmful chemicals. Future research will focus on evaluating the impact of these nanofibers on the structure and functionality of texturized vegetable proteins for application in meat analogues.