Preheat-induced soy protein particles with tunable heat stability

•Preheat resulted in protein particles with tunable heat stability.•Higher heat stable proteins were obtained at higher preheat temperature and time.•Better gelling ability of proteins were obtained at lower preheat temperature.•Heat stability both related to the density and denaturation extent of proteins. Recently, there is a growing interest in developing protein-enriched beverages with improved nutritional and functional properties. However, this is challenged by heat-induced aggregation and gelation of edible proteins, which limits their practical applications in high protein systems. In this study, soy protein particles (SPPs) with tunable heat stability were prepared by simply preheating soy proteins suspensions (pH 6.4 and 1% (w/v) concentration) at different temperatures and times. Results showed that heat-stabled SPPs were successfully obtained at high preheating temperatures with prolonged time. The SPPs structures were found to be highly unfolded, denatured, and compact. In addition, these particles exhibited lower viscosities and higher flow behavior index without gelation, whereas those prepared at lower preheating temperatures were found to readily gel after reheating. These results provide useful insights on how heat stable SPPs can be prepared, which extends their further application in protein-enriched beverages and relevant products.