Chia is an excellent source of healthy constituents (dietary fibre and proteins) with high water holding capacity
(WHC) and strong gelling properties, which imply technological challenges for its application in foods, such as
leavened bakery products. Therefore, this work explored the potential of high-pressure homogenization (HPH) to
steer the technological functionalities (physicochemical, structural and rheological properties) of a chia fibreprotein
concentrate (FPC) for food applications. Chia FPC suspensions (5%, w/w) were treated at increasing
pressures (up to 150 MPa) and number of cycles (up to 5) to generate a wide range of energy densities delivered
to the sample during processing (100–750 MJ m-3). HPH treatments decreased particle size, WHC and oil
holding capacity of FPC. WHC of treated samples was 52–70% lower than control. Moreover, rheological
measurements on the soluble fraction of homogenised FPC showed a reduction in apparent viscosity and shearthinning
behaviour. These results can be attributed to multiple events occurring during HPH processing. In
particular, the mechanical forces suffered by the samples induced the rupture of native structures in smaller
fragments in concomitance with biopolymer structure modifications. HPH at energy densities between 300 and
750 MJ m 3 determined a 14–35% increase in soluble dietary fibre (SDF) compared to control, indicating a
partial conversion from insoluble to SDF without changes in total dietary fibre. Conformational changes in
proteins were also observed. This study suggests that proper selection of HPH energy density represents a
strategy to obtain novel promising ingredients rich in dietary fibre and proteins with tailored technological
functionalities.
