2025-12-09

Davide Schirone, a researcher at the Division of Physical Chemistry, is interested in how vegan proteins work. He recently completed a study on how pea proteins are broken down in the body. Schirone and his international research team conducted the experiments at MAX IV in Lund.

Why is it important to study the breakdown of vegan proteins in the stomach?

“The way we produce food today in wealthy countries is taxing on the environment and leads to global injustices and decreasing biodiversity. Producing vegan proteins that function well as food is a more sustainable strategy. Digestion in the stomach is an important factor that affects both the nutritional value and how the immune system responds to potential allergens in the protein.”

Why did you choose to study pea protein specifically?

“Pea protein has attracted attention recently because in many ways it behaves like soy protein but appears to be less allergenic, allowing more people to tolerate it in their diet. Pea protein also works well as a texture agent and can be used to create foods with different consistencies.”

What was the most important conclusion from your experiment?

“In our experiment, we exposed a pea-protein gel to artificial gastric acid and used several different experimental techniques to study how it breaks down. We discovered that protein degradation occurs as a two-step process—first due to the stomach’s acidic environment, and then with the help of the enzyme pepsin found in gastric juice. However, we noticed that some of the protein components were highly resistant to degradation. They are likely broken down later in the process by beneficial bacteria in the intestine.”

In what way did MAX IV contribute to the experiment?

“MAX IV is one of the world’s most advanced facilities for producing high-quality X-rays. The high intensity of the radiation allowed us to follow rapid changes in the sample. The CoSAXS experimental station we used is also very flexible. You can place almost anything in front of the X-ray beam there and obtain a good result.”

How will you proceed with the experiment now?

“In our first experiment, we focused on the pea-protein gel and how it changed. In our next experiment, we will instead focus on what happens to the protein fragments that dissolve in the gastric juice.”

The study was published in the scientific journal Journal of Colloid and Interface Science: “Two-step digestion pathways of hydrogels from pea proteins ”Two-step digestion pathways of hydrogels from pea proteins”