Plant-derived protein such as pea protein is a promising replacement for animal protein and is becoming popular in recent years because of its high nutritional value and potential reduction of environmental footprint. However, the increasing demand for plant-derived proteins is accompanied by the increase of wastes during protein processing such as wastewater containing dilute protein content, which may raise the cost for the downstream processing. Therefore, there is an emerging need to develop novel processing strategies to reduce waste while valorizing useful ingredients. Several researchers suggest that foam fractionation technology can be a viable approach to extract and concentrate protein from dilute wastewater effluent. This technology has already been applied to the chemical and food industry for the extraction of surfactant and animal proteins from wastewater. To design and apply foam fractionation to the plant-derived protein industry, fundamental knowledge on foaming properties of dilute plant-derived protein solution is needed and is currently lacking. Therefore, the objective of this thesis is to advance a fundamental understanding of the foaming properties of dilute pea protein solutions (protein concentration ≤ 1wt%). To achieve the objective, a multiscale approach is used, which is comprised of a detailed investigation of both bulk and interfacial properties of pea protein solutions and foaming properties such as foaming capacity and stability with the help of bubble structure and foam volume kinetics. The focus of this thesis is on the effect of protein concentration. Results demonstrate that protein adsorption kinetics can be characterized by four distinctive regimes: lag phase, diffusion-limited regime, transitional regime, and conformation change regime, which are highly dependent on the protein concentration. However, apparent viscosity is less affected by the protein concentration. Results also show that depending on the protein concentration, two regimes can be distinguished for foam capacity and foam stability. For the first time, these regimes can be rationalized by contrasting characteristics times of protein adsorption kinetics and processing time scale – residence time of bubbles during the foam formation. New findings from this fundamental research will shed light on the control and optimization of foaming properties of plant-derived protein solutions for applications ranging from food processing design to food product development.

Le lait de dromadaire, connu pour ses propriétés nutritionnelles et ses vertus médicinales, possède aussi une bonne aptitude moussante. Sa composition protéique différente de celle du lait de vache (absence de β-lactoglobuline et taux plus élevé de caséine β) suggère l’implication de mécanismes différents pour justifier de telles propriétés moussantes. Afin d’approfondir ces mécanismes, les propriétés interfaciales et moussantes des protéines du lait de dromadaire ont été étudiées seules, en mélange ou dans leur environnement naturel en fonction de certaines conditions physico-chimiques, notamment l’impact du pH et celui de traitements thermiques. Deux barèmes différents, 70°C et 90°C pendant 30 min, ont été étudiés à pH neutre et acide afin de comprendre le rôle de chacune des dénaturations appliquées et leur impact sur les propriétés moussantes. Cette étude a été réalisée en parallèle sur le lait de vache afin de pouvoir corréler et approfondir leurs propriétés respectives.Dans la première partie de ce travail, l’α-lactalbumine et la caséine β, protéines majeures des phases solubles et colloïdales du lait de dromadaire, ont été purifiées à partir de lait frais écrémé afin de caractériser leurs propriétés moussantes respectives. L’impact du traitement thermique (70°C ou 90°C pendant 30 min) et du pH a été étudié sur leurs propriétés interfaciales et moussantes. A pH neutre, le traitement thermique améliore les propriétés moussantes de l’α-lactalbumine du lait du dromadaire contrairement aux pH acides (4,3), où ces propriétés diminuent à cause de l’agrégation des protéines, facilitée par la diminution des répulsions et par la mise en place de ponts disulfures. Par ailleurs, la baisse de pH de 7 à 5 diminue aussi les propriétés moussantes de la caséine β suite à sa moins bonne solubilité proche de son pH isoélectrique. La caséine β bovine, moins hydrophobe que la caséine β du lait de dromadaire, donne dans ces conditions une mousse plus stable dans le temps.Le deuxième volet de ce travail s’est tourné vers l’étude des systèmes protéiques du lait de dromadaire dans les fractions solubles (lactosérums doux et acides) et sous forme de caséinates de sodium, ainsi que dans différents mélanges binaires de protéines purifiées α-lactalbumine/β-caséine à différents ratios massiques. Les lactosérums acides issus du lait de dromadaire ont montré de très bonnes propriétés moussantes ainsi qu’une meilleure stabilité au cours du temps par rapport à ceux du lait de vache. Cette tensioactivité des protéines du lactosérum acide à l’interface air/eau a été conservée, même après un traitement thermique à 90°C, ce qui explique l’aptitude importante au moussage de ces lactosérums.Concernant les caséinates de sodium, ces protéines produisent le maximum de mousse à pH neutre avec une efficacité plus importante pour les caséinates de sodium du lait de dromadaire, probablement grâce aux teneurs plus importantes en caséine β, associées à la forte amphipolarité de cette caséine. La stabilité des mousses ainsi créées a été augmentée après le traitement thermique des solutions de caséinates, notamment à pH 5 pour les caséinates de sodium bovines. Ainsi, les agrégats induits par l’acidification et le chauffage s’adsorbent lentement, mais contribuent fortement au maintien du film protéique créé.L’étude du mélange binaire contenant l’α-La et la caséine β issues du lait de dromadaire a été effectuée et comparée aux protéines bovines : α-La/β-caséine et β-Lg/β-caséine. Les résultats obtenus dans ce travail indiquent que les mélanges protéiques contenant des taux plus élevés en caséine β présentent les meilleures propriétés moussantes, stabilisantes et interfaciales. Ainsi, la caséine β joue un rôle important dans la création et la stabilisation des mousses du lait de dromadaire. / Camel milk proteins isolates, prior to foaming properties, were studied as a function of pH and temperature of heat treatment. The purity of the extracted camel α-lactalbumin (α-La) and β-casein was estimated by combining different analytical methods such as high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and SDS-PAGE electrophoresis.The increased temperature treatment changed the foaming properties of camel α-La solution and its ability to unfold at the air/water interface. At neutral pH, heat treatment was found to improve foamability, whereas at acid pH (4.3) this property decreased. Heat treatment caused changes in α-La surface charge and free thiol group concentration, which confirmed the pronounced aggregation of heated camel α-La solution. Otherwise, the foaming and interfacial properties of extracted bovine and camel β-casein showed that at neutral pH, maximum of foam volume was achieved by both camel and bovine β-caseins. This property decreased at acid pH because of the casein precipitation and the lower surface protein coverage. Findings indicated also that varying pH affected the physicochemical properties of the bovine and camel β-casein solutions by decreasing the surface negative charge and intrinsic fluorescence. These results were more pronounced on the bovine β-casein suggesting a higher acid-sensitivity of this protein when compared to its camel counterpart.The second part of this work investigated the foaming and adsorption behavior of camel proteins mixed systems compared to bovine systems including whey fraction, sodium caseinates (Na-cas) and α-La/β-casein mixed systems at different ratios. The results showed that, acid wheys gave better foams when compared to sweet whey for both milks, with higher values for the camel whey. This behavior was explained by the proximity of the isoelectric point (pI) of whey proteins (4.9–5.2), where proteins were found to carry the lowest negative charge as confirmed by the zeta potential measurements. Unlike whey fraction, camel and bovine Na-cas exhibited lowest foaming and interfacial properties near its pI because of the casein precipitation. Whereas, created foams were more stable at pH 5 than at pH 7 especially after a heat treatment. The heat treatment of 70 °C and 90 °C during 30 min affected also the physicochemical properties of the bovine and camel Na-cas by decreasing intrinsic fluorescence confirming also the pronounced caseins precipitation at pH 5 where caseins were found to carry the lowest negative charge as found by the zeta potential measurementsMixed solutions of the two isolated camel proteins (α-La and β-casein) at different ratios (100:0; 75:25; 50:50; 25:75; 0:100) give more foam with a higher β-casein amount in all camel and bovine mixtures. Good correlation was observed with the adsorption and the interfacial rheological properties of camel and bovine protein mixtures. Thus, the proteins adsorbed layers are mainly affected by the presence of β-casein molecules, which are suggested to be probably the most abundant protein at interface and the most efficient in reducing the interfacial properties. Whereas, globular proteins such as α-La and β-Lg are involved in the protein layer composition but could not compact well at the interface to ensure foams creation and stabilization because of their rigid molecular structure.This work therefore suggests new alternatives for the production of foam from proteins derived from dromedary milk, a dairy product characterized both by a high biological value but also by interesting functional properties of its proteins, in particular their surfactant power.