Assessing the eco-efficiency of pulse-protein extraction by the hybrid fractionation method through a comprehensive techno-eco-environmental analysis

The global demand for plant-based protein has seen a dramatic increase in recent years, driven by its potential to support sustainable and healthy diets and contribute to net-zero emission goals through reduced environmental impacts. Despite this growing demand, the industrial infrastructure for plant-based protein production remains limited, constrained by insufficient data on the overall sustainability performance of commercializing emerging protein fractionation technologies. This study investigates the industrial scalability of novel hybrid fractionation (HF) scenarios that integrate dry and wet fractionation methods, with a focus on evaluating their economic feasibility and environmental impacts using eco-efficiency indices and multicriteria decision analysis. From the findings, it was revealed that the performance of the fractionation scenarios is more dependent on the wet fractionation step selected (70-80% contribution) than the dry pre-classification step. The baseline scenario (air classification and alkaline extraction with isoelectric precipitation) recorded a Net Present Value of M$79.9, Global Warming Potential of 2.58 kgCO 2 -eq, and protein purity of 65.9% for economic, environmental, and product quality dimensions, respectively, and 38.0 M$/kgCO 2 -eq for eco-efficiency performance. Trade-off analysis for the optimal scenario revealed 3.85% and 28.9% gains in economic and quality dimensions, respectively, at a cost of 6.5% environmental loss, when compared with the baseline scenario. The rankings of overall performance using multi-criteria decision analysis were altered when expert-based objective weighting was applied as compared to equal weighting. The results provide invaluable insights into the technical, economic, and environmental trade-offs to permit more informed decisions on the industrial adoption of the optimal hybrid fractionation scenario for sustainable plant-protein extraction.