Fiber Rich Co-Products from Carioca Bean Protein Fractionation: Characterization and Ball Milling Treatment

Abstract

This work aimed to explore the potential uses of co-products from the concentration of carioca beans protein and to apply ball mill treatment to produce high-viscosity suspensions. Two co-products were evaluated: hulls obtained by industrial dry fractionation process (HDF) (49.8% of fiber) and fibrous biomass from wet fractionation (FBWF) (33.9% of fibers). The drying of FBWF reduced the moisture content from 84.8 ± 0.4% to 11.8 ± 0.1% (5 h/60°C), and the drying curve well-adjusted to Logarithmic model. Ball mill treatment was performed at 400 rpm for 6 h at 25 °C using zirconium spheres. In both co-products, insoluble fibers were predominant, and among them, the HDF sample showed a higher amount of soluble fibers. The longer the milling time, the greater the increase in viscosity and the reduction in particle size of the suspension. FBWF exhibited stable viscosity during heating, whereas HDF viscosity decreased as it was heated. In both fractions, the treatment promotes changes in its interactions with water, due to starch damage in the FBWF and fibers size decrease in the HDF. Therefore, co-products studied in this work can be used in the food industry as a source of fiber and, when processed in a ball mill, as a thickening agent.