A comprehensive review on the recent trends in extractions, pretreatments and modifications of plant-based proteins

Plant-based proteins offer sustainable and nutritious alternatives to animal proteins, with their techno-functional attributes influencing product quality and designer food development. Due to the inherent complexities of plant proteins, proper extraction and modifications are vital for their effective utilization. This review highlights the emerging sources of plant-based proteins, and the recent statistics of the techniques employed for pretreatment, extraction, and modifications. The pretreatment, extraction and modification approach to modify plant proteins have been classified, addressed, and the recent applications of such methodologies are duly indicated. Furthermore, this study furnishes novel perspectives regarding the potential impacts of emerging technologies on the intricate dynamics of plant proteins. A thorough review of 100 articles (2018–2024) shows the researchers' keen interest in investigating novel plant proteins and how they can be used; seeds are the main source for protein extraction, followed by legumes. Using by-products as a protein source is increasing rapidly, which is noteworthy. Protein studies still lack knowledge on protein fraction, antinutrients, and pretreatments. The use of physical methods and their combination with other techniques is increasing for effective and environmentally friendly extraction and modification of plant proteins. Several studies explore the effect of protein changes on their function and nutrition, especially with a goal of replacing ingredients with plant proteins that have improved or enhanced qualities. However, the next step is to investigate the sophisticated modification methods for deeper insights into food safety and toxicity.