Structure and functionality of hemp protein isolate as affected by various extraction methods

The utilization of industrial hemp in food is gaining popularity. This study aimed to comprehensively investigate the impact of alkaline extraction–isoelectric precipitation (AE-IEP), salt extraction (SE) dialysis, and reverse micelle-extraction (RM) on structural and functional properties of hemp protein isolate (HPI). A higher protein content in SE extracted HPI (SE-HPI) was obtained than the AE-IEP extracted HPI. In particular, protein subunit composition, structural properties were strongly influenced by the extraction methods. While defatting processing was necessary for AE-IEP and SE based extraction, RM could be applied to directly extract HPI from non-defatted hemp flours without largely impacting the functionality of the protein, thus giving a great potential of the eco-friendly way for protein extraction. The findings of the current study could provide practical and fundamental information to extract HPI with optimal chemical and functional properties.