Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, cilt.1, sa.1, ss.1-14, 2025 (Hakemli Dergi)
BACKGROUND: The agro-food industry generates by-products and waste. These may be valorized as protein sources that could
be used as alternatives to soy and pea in line with the EU Farm to Fork Strategy. This study evaluated potential safety-relevant
contaminants and the nutritional quality of hazelnut skin protein (HSP) and pumpkin seed protein (PSP) compared with conventional
pea protein (PP) and soy protein (SP).
RESULTS: Microbial contaminants, total aflatoxin, pesticides, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons were assessed as satisfactory.
Arsenic, cadmium, and lead slightly exceeded regulatory limits, whereas mercury was undetected. Total protein content was
53.93% in HSP, 57.79% in PSP, 48.86% in PP, and 57.89% in SP. All samples largely met the essential amino acid requirements
of the World Health Organization (WHO)/Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). In vitro cytotoxicity
assays showed that HSP and SP significantly affected the viability of colon cancer cells (HCT-116) while remaining non-cytotoxic
to fibroblast cells (L929), depending on exposure time and protein concentration (P < 0.05), indicating potentially safe. During
in vitro digestion, following the Infogest protocol, HSP exhibited high stability at pH 3.4 with moderate solubility of 20 mg L⁻¹,
similar to PSP. Hazelnut skin protein also displayed higher antioxidant activity than SP and PP, reaching 20 mmol TE g⁻¹ after
intestinal digestion between 120 and 240 min.
CONCLUSION: Hazelnut skin and pumpkin seed proteins could serve as alternative protein sources with satisfactory safety and
nutritional quality. Further research should focus on safety and nutritional standardization to support their sustainable use as
healthy ingredients.