Abstract:Pea protein has relatively poor water solubility and foaming properties，which limits its deep processing and development in the food industry.In this study，choline-based ionic liquid，a biocompatible green solvent with good biocompatibility，was used to improve the solubility of pea protein.The changes in the functional characteristics of pea protein in five solutions with a concentration of 56.00% of choline chloride（[Ch][Cl]），choline acetate（[Ch][Ac]），choline lactate（[Ch][La]），choline phosphate（[Ch][Ph]），and choline citrate（[Ch][Ci]）were investigated.The results showed that，except for [Ch][Ci]，the other four ionic liquids significantly enhanced the solubility of pea protein（p<0.05）.Among them，[Ch][Ph] had the best effect，increasing the solubility of pea protein from 4.50% in water to 12.70% in [Ch][Ph]，and the foam stability reached 600.00%.This improvement can be attributed to the high viscosity（34 mPa·s）of the ionic liquid，which reduces the α-helix and β-folded structures of pea protein，induces protein unfolding，disrupts hydrophobic interactions，and breaks hydrogen bonds between protein chains.In conclusion，choline-based ionic liquids are effective solvents for improving the solubility and foam stability of pea protein.