Carboxymethylated corn fiber gums efficiently improve the stability of native and acidified aqueous pea protein dispersions

The application of pea protein in beverages has been limited because of its poor solubility and stability in water. We previously revealed that corn fiber gum (CFG) could effectively improve the stability of pea protein dispersions (PPD) only at high CFG concentrations (>10%). In addition, the high viscosity of the resulting PPD might lead to a poor mouthfeel. This successive work aimed to prompt the stabilizing performance of CFG for low-viscosity PPD with a refreshing taste using carboxymethylated CFG (CMCFG). The stabilizing effects of CMCFG with different degrees of substitution (DS) were investigated at native pH (6.5–7.5) and acidified pH (ca. 3.5). Results showed that CMCFG with suitable DS could well stabilize PPD at a low concentration of 5% at native pH and 3% at pH 3.5. Concomitantly, the viscosities of the CMCFG-stabilized PPD were decreased by more than one order compared with those of PPD stabilized by CFG. Carboxymethylation of CFG enhanced the electrostatic repulsion and steric hindrance among protein/polysaccharide complexes, which contributed to the better stabilizing performance of CMCFG than that of native CFG. These findings indicated that CMCFG could be a potential stabilizer in pea protein-based beverage formulations.