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Abstract
The growing demand for plant-based milk underscores the need to enhance its nutritional value through fortification and improved protein content. This study introduces the post pH-driven method as a solution for curcumin fortification and oat protein solubility enhancement in plant-based milk. The method was applied to extract curcumin from turmeric, achieving high extraction efficiency (96.4 ± 0.5%) and two-in-one efficiency (94.2 ± 1.6%) in soymilk. Additionally, it was used to treat oat protein, where a combination of heat treatment at 100°C and citric acid acidification significantly improved protein solubility up to 70-75%. These findings demonstrate the versatility of the post pH-driven method in developing functional plant-based milk products. This study lays a strong foundation for improving plant-based milk formulations through innovative extraction and solubilization techniques. Future research should focus on its scalability, molecular interactions within food matrices, and sensory evaluation to optimize its commercial applications.