Reducing the stiffness of concentrated whey protein isolate (WPI) gels by using WPI microparticles

Concentrated protein gels were prepared using native whey protein isolate (WPI) and WPI based microparticles. WPI microparticles were produced by making gel pieces from a concentrated WPI suspension (40% w/w), which were dried and milled. The protein within the microparticles was denatured and the protein concentration after drying was similar to the native WPI powder. WPI microparticles had irregular shape with an average size of about 70 μm. They absorbed water when dispersed in water, but the dispersion did not gel upon heating. Replacing part of the native WPI powder with WPI microparticles in the protein gel resulted in lower gel stiffness compared with a gel with the same overall protein concentration but without microparticles. However, microparticles also strengthened the continuous phase because they take up water from this phase. This might increase gel stiffness more than would be expected from an inert particle/filler. There was also good bonding between the microparticles and the WPI continuous phase in the gel, which contributed to gel stiffness.     

Effect of dynamic heat treatment on the physical properties of whey protein foams

The influence of dynamically heat-induced aggregates on whey protein foams was investigated as a function of the thermal treatment applied with the aim of determining the optimal temperature for the production of heat-induced aggregates dedicated to foaming. The native protein solutions (2% w/v WPI; 50 mM NaCl) at neutral pH were heat-treated using a tubular heat exchanger between 70 °C and 100 °C. Protein denaturation and aggregation were followed by micro-differential scanning calorimetry, size exclusion chromatography, laser diffraction and dynamic light scattering. The protein solutions were whipped using a kitchen mixer to produce foams. Foam overrun, stability against drainage, texture and bubble size distribution were measured.     

The thermal denaturation of the total whey protein in reconstituted whole milk

The kinetic parameters for thermal denaturation of the total whey proteins in whole milk were determined. Denaturation was a second‐order reaction, and an Arrhenius plot showed a change in slope at ~85 °C. At 70–85 °C, the activation energy, enthalpy and entropy were in the range expected for denaturation processes, whereas at 85–115 °C, these parameters were typical for chemical reactions such as aggregation. Equations to predict the denaturation after heating were developed and tested on a range of independently prepared milk samples. There was a good agreement between the predicted and the experimentally determined denaturation levels.     

Drying kinetics and survival studies of dairy fermentation bacteria in convective air drying environment using single droplet drying

The drying and survival kinetics of Lactococcus lactis ssp. cremoris in a convective air drying environment were measured using single droplet drying experiments. Tests were carried out at five different drying temperatures (45–95 °C) at a constant air velocity (0.5 m/s) and within 2.4–11% relative humidity. The effect of protective agents (10% w/w) of lactose, sodium caseinate and lactose:sodium caseinate (3:1) was also evaluated. The thermal inactivation kinetics parameters in convective air drying and isothermal water bath heating were determined and compared. The results showed that the final temperature attained by the droplet affected the survival of the bacteria significantly, however, most of the bacterial death occurred in early stage of drying while evaporative cooling kept the drop temperature relatively low. At higher droplet temperatures (?65 °C) the bacterial cultures were inactivated by both dehydration and thermal stresses. At lower droplet temperatures (?55 °C) the rate of change in droplet moisture content had much stronger effect on the bacterial survival. Lactose and sodium caseinate, as protective agents, enhanced the survival of bacterial cells significantly at all the test conditions. The lactose:sodium caseinate (3:1) mixture synergistically enhanced the survival of the bacterial cultures. The death of these bacteria followed first-order kinetics during convective single droplet drying as well as during isothermal water-bath heating. However, the inactivation energy in convective single droplet drying (181.3 kJ/mol) was much higher than the inactivation energy in isothermal water bath heating (16.8 kJ/mol) within the medium temperature of 45–95 °C.     

热处理温度及蛋白浓度对乳清分离蛋白-黄油乳液体系的影响

稳定的乳清分离蛋白（WPI）-黄油乳液体系在乳制品加工及乳制品营养传递系统中有良好的应用前景。对不同质量分数（2%、4%、6%、8%）的WPI分别进行不同的热处理（未加热、80 ℃和90 ℃）,加入黄油并进行超声波处理,制备成乳液,对乳液体系粒径、絮凝指数（FI）、乳化活性（EA）、乳化稳定性（ES）、物理稳定性、储藏期粒径变化和脂肪上浮情况进行分析。结果表明：随着热处理温度的升高,乳液的平均粒径增大,未加热乳液平均粒径均小于1 μm,经加热处理后,不同蛋白质量分数乳液的粒径均有不同程度的增大;经过热处理,乳液的EA和ES均有所改善;随着蛋白质量分数的增大,乳液的物理稳定性提高,其中WPI质量分数为6%和8%时,90 ℃热处理样品的稳定性指数（TSI）均小于0.6,稳定性最好,同一蛋白质量分数下,热处理温度越高,蛋白对乳液的稳定作用越强;乳液储藏期脂肪上浮情况与热处理温度和蛋白质量分数显著相关,较高的蛋白质量分数及热处理温度能够改善乳液体系中脂肪上浮情况。研究表明,通过控制蛋白质量分数和WPI热处理温度可以有效提高WPI-黄油乳液体系的乳化特性及稳定性。     

Physicochemical and emulsifying properties of whey protein isolate (WPI)-polydextrose conjugates prepared via Maillard reaction

In this study, whey protein isolate (WPI) and polydextrose (PDX) were used to produce WPI-PDX covalent conjugates via dry-heating Maillard reaction, and their characteristics and functional properties including abilities to emulsify and stabilise the corn germ oil/water emulsions were measured. Compared with WPI alone, the WPI-PDX conjugates had higher water solubility and DPPH radical scavenging ability, and the derived emulsions exhibited good storage stability over 60 days prepared under these conditions: reaction time 24 h, conjugate concentration 4–6%, oil fraction ratio 0.6 and emulsion system pH 3–8. Further, we found that the emulsion possessed the best storage stability under the condition of 4% WPI-PDX conjugates and 0.6% oil fraction. These results provide a potent to prepare a beneficial Maillard conjugation following an optimised reaction condition and highlight the potential use of WPI-PDX conjugates as the emulsifier in food industry.     

Combined effect of dynamic heat treatment and ionic strength on the properties of whey protein foams – Part II

The aim was to investigate the effect of dynamic thermal treatment in a tubular heat exchanger on the denaturation and foaming properties of whey proteins, such as overrun, foam stability and texture. A 2% w/v WPI solution (pH 7.0), with and without NaCl addition (100 mM), was submitted to heat treatment at 100 °C. The results demonstrated that heat treatment slightly reduced overrun, whereas NaCl and heat treatment improved foam stability, enhanced texture and provided smaller bubble diameters with more homogeneous bubble size distributions in foams. The foaming properties of proteins, especially stability, were shown to depend not only on the amount of protein aggregates, but also on their size. While insoluble aggregates (larger than 1 μm diameter) accelerated drainage, soluble aggregates (about 200 nm diameter) played a key role on the stabilization of gas–liquid interfaces.     

The effect of protein profile and preheating on denaturation of whey proteins and development of viscosity in milk protein beverages during heat treatment

The effect of preheat temperature (63 or 77 °C for 30 s; final heat 120 °C for 30 s) and casein to whey protein ratio on the physical characteristics of 3.3%, w/w, dairy protein beverages was investigated. Dispersions preheated at 77 °C had lower viscosity than dispersions preheated at 63 °C. Casein‐containing dispersions had significantly lower levels of α‐lactalbumin denaturation than whey protein‐only dispersions. A higher proportion of casein improved the thermal stability of protein dispersions. Overall, alteration of preheat temperature and casein to whey protein ratio can influence dairy beverage quality, with increasing levels of casein reducing physical changes due to heat treatment.     

Formation and functionality of whey protein isolate–(kappa-, iota-, and lambda-type) carrageenan electrostatic complexes

The formation of electrostatic complexes between whey protein isolate (WPI) and (κ-, ι-, λ-type) carrageenan (CG) was investigated by turbidimetric measurements as a function of pH (1.5–7.0), biopolymer weight-mixing ratio (1:1–75:1 WPI:CG) and NaCl addition (0–500 mM) to better elucidate underlying mechanisms of interaction. Emulsion stabilizing effects of formed complexes was also studied to assess their potential as emulsifiers. Complex formation followed two pH-dependent structure-forming events associated with the formation of soluble (pH_c) and insoluble (pH_?1) complexes. For both the WPI–κ-CG and WPI–ι-CG mixtures, pH_c and pH_?1 occurred at pH 5.5 and 5.3, respectively, whereas in the WPI–λ-CG mixture values were slightly higher (pH_c = 5.7; pH_?1 = 5.5). In all mixtures, maximum turbidity was found to occur near pH 4.5, before declining at lower pHs. Biopolymer mixing ratios corresponding to maximum OD was found to occur at the 12:1 ratio for both the WPI–κ-CG and WPI–λ-CG mixtures, and 20:1 ratio for WPI–ι-CG mixture. The addition of NaCl disrupted complexation within WPI–κ-CG mixtures as levels were raised, whereas when ι-CG and λ-CG was present, complexation was enhanced up to a critical Na⁺ concentration before declining. Adsorption of CG chains to the small WPI–WPI aggregates during complexation was proposed to be related to both the linear charge density and conformation of the CG molecules involved. Emulsion stability in the mixed systems (12:1 mixing ratio), regardless of the CG type (κ, ι, λ), was significantly higher than individual WPI solutions indicating enhanced ability to stabilize the oil-in-water interface.     

Effect of heat treatment and droplet size on the oxidative stability of whey protein emulsions

The present paper examines whether certain processing factors may influence the oxidative stability of whey protein oil-in-water emulsions, which are structurally close to innovative industrial products (e.g. “fresh-cheese” and “non-dairy cream” types).     

Effects of high hydrostatic pressure treatment on allergenicity and structural properties of soybean protein isolate for infant formula

The objective of this study is to investigate the influences of HHP treatment on the allergenic properties of SPI for infant formula. The processing parameters, including HHP pressure and duration time, could significantly influence the allergenicity reducing efficiency. At 300 MPa and 15 min, the allergenicity decreased 48.6%, compared to the native SPI. In the ranges of 200-300 MPa and 5-15 min, the free SH content and hydrophobicity of SPI significantly increased. Meanwhile, at the levels above 300 MPa and 15 min, the two interactions progressively decreased. Whatever HHP pressure and time, the maximum emission wavelength indicated blueshifts. At 300 MPa and 15 min, there was an 11.5-fold increase in fluorescence intensity and the maximum emission wavelength shifted from 516 to 466 nm. After HHP treatment, the helix1 and turns content, significantly increased and the strand1 and unordered content considerably decreased; whereas the amount of the helix2 and strand2 did not indicate any obvious change. The average length of helices significantly increased, while the helices (per 100 residues) did not strikingly change after HHP modification. However, both the strand (per 100 residues) and the average length of strands clearly decreased. Some documents indicate that the epitopes of SPI allergens could be closely related to the secondary structure of α-helix and β-sheet. These interactions and secondary structure results can provide direct evidence, or explanation, for HHP-induced modification of soy proteins, which could alter the allergenicity of SPI and enhance the security of SPI for cow milk allergic babies.     

热处理对水媒法制备的亚麻籽分离蛋白挥发性风味成分和功能性质的影响

以脱壳亚麻籽为原料,采用水媒法制备亚麻籽分离蛋白(FPI)。研究了热处理对FPI亚基组成、挥发性物质种类和含量及其功能性质的影响。结果表明:随着热处理时间的延长,FPI亚基的聚集与解离加剧,当95℃加热10 min时,FPI的亚基组成即可发生较大的变化,35～50 kDa的亚基能够迅速解离;热处理后FPI中挥发性物质从32种增加至42种,主要种类仍为醛类、醇类和酮类,但呈现树叶味、青草味的风味物质减少,而呈现油脂味、烧焦味、烤香味的风味物质增加;在pH 7.0时,经热处理的FPI的溶解性从30%降至25%,而大豆分离蛋白(SPI)的溶解性从95%降至35%。热处理后,FPI的乳化活性从17.43 m2/g升高至26.03 m2/g,乳化稳定性由43.28 min降至37.45min,而持水性与持油性均无明显变化。     

Effect of adding zein,soy protein isolate and whey protein isolate on the physicochemical and in vitro digestion of proso millet starch

Mixtures of proso millet starch with zein (15%, w/v), soy protein isolate (SPI, 15%, w/v) and whey protein isolate (WPI, 10%, w/v) as starch–protein composites were prepared through heat–moisture treatment, and the effects of protein addition on the physicochemical, structural and digestibility properties of starch were investigated. Rapid Visco Analysis showed that the addition of zein, SPI and WPI gave significantly decreased setback values to 240.7cp, 192.0cp and 83.0cp, respectively, and setback values decreased reflected the excellent cold paste properties. Thermal analysis showed that each protein reduced the enthalpy, but especially WPI (reduced by 94.7%), suggesting that the double helices of the starch granules were decreased. X-ray diffraction showed that starch crystallinity was decreased after protein addition. The digestibility studies revealed that the addition of zein, SPI and WPI decreased the content of rapidly digestible starch and increased the resistant starch content to 8.4%, 14.6% and 17.5%, respectively. The whey protein displayed a more obvious impact on the digestibility of proso millet starch. These results will help guide the production and processing of starchy foods with desirable properties.     

Dependence of the effective diffusion coefficient of moisture with thickness and temperature in convective drying of sliced materials. A study on slices of banana, cassava and pumpkin

Several studies have indicated that effective diffusion coefficients of slices apparently vary with the thickness of the samples. Even though the effective diffusion coefficients have been observed to be dependent on the square of the slice thickness, a theoretical explanation to this behavior is not available to date. A theoretical model is formulated herein, in order to correlate effective diffusion coefficient of moisture in the slices with the slice thickness. Experiments are carried out for drying of slices of different thicknesses of banana, cassava and pumpkin in order to evaluate the effective diffusion coefficients. The model is found to describe the variation of the effective diffusion coefficient with slice thickness very satisfactorily. A possibility of the estimation of the axial and radial diffusion coefficients of moisture in the slices is also outlined.     

Iron‐encapsulated cold‐set whey protein isolate gel powder – Part 1: Optimisation of preparation conditions and in vitro evaluation

A central composite design with a quadratic model was used to investigate the effects of three independent variables involved in the synthesis of iron‐encapsulated cold‐set whey protein isolate gel (WPI) on encapsulation efficiency (EE) and L*, a*, b* colour characteristics. The optimal conditions for maximum EE with minimum colour alteration were determined as 6.8% WPI, 18.8 mM iron and pH 7. In an in vitro gastrointestinal assay, only about 28% of the encapsulated iron was released in the gastric condition (with pepsin at pH 1.2), compared to 95% in the intestinal condition (with pancreatin at pH 7.5).     

Effect of high hydrostatic pressure pretreatment on drying kinetics, antioxidant activity, firmness and microstructure of Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis Miller) gel

The effect of High Hydrostatic Pressure (HHP) and other pretreatments on the drying kinetics, antioxidant activity, firmness and microstructure of Aloe vera gel was investigated during convective drying at 70 °C. The pretreatments analyzed were high hydrostatic pressure, blanching, enzymatic and microwaves. Simulation of drying curves was studied through the application of several mathematical models such as Newton, Henderson and Pabis, Page, Modified Page, Wang and Singh, and Weibull. Among them, the Weibull model provided the best fit for the experimental data. All pretreatments increased the water diffusion coefficient compared to the control sample. Microwaves followed by HHP presented the fastest drying rates. All pretreatments modified the microstructure and hence the texture of the product. HHP and microwaves increased firmness while blanching and enzymatic treatments produced a softer final product. Blanching, microwaves and HHP enhanced A. vera antioxidant activity. However, the HHP pretreated samples showed the highest antioxidant activity compared to the rest. Based on these results, HHP together with convective drying offers the chance of producing dried aloe with high antioxidant attributes.     

Effect of heat treatment and solution preparation procedure on colloidal stability of whey protein sour cherry beverage

In this study, a whey protein sour cherry beverage was prepared using whey protein concentrate, sour cherry concentrate, Angum gum, water and sugar as initial ingredients. Whey protein concentrate and gum solutions were prepared by four methods. Heat treatment of the solutions led to denaturation of proteins, a change in the solubility of proteins and sediment formation. Our results showed that denaturation of proteins made the peptide fragments of the proteins to bind the gum, thus preventing the separation of the serum.     

Ability of whey protein isolate and/or fish gelatin to inhibit physical separation and lipid oxidation in fish oil-in-water beverage emulsion

The effect of pH on the capability of whey protein isolate (WPI) and fish gelatin (FG), alone and in conjugation, to form and stabilize fish oil-in-water emulsions was examined. Using layer-by-layer interfacial deposition technique for WPI–FG conjugate, a total of 1% protein was used to prepare 10% fish oil emulsions. The droplets size distributions and electrical charge, surface protein concentration, flow and dynamic rheological properties and physiochemical stability of emulsions were characterize at two different pH of 3.4 and 6.8 which were selected based on the ranges of citrus and milk beverages pHs, respectively. Emulsions prepared with WPI–FG conjugate had superior physiochemical stability compare to the emulsions prepared with individual proteins. Higher rate of coalescence was associated with reduction in net charge and consequent decrease of the repulsion between coated oil droplets due to the proximity of pH to the isoelectric point of proteins. The noteworthy shear thinning viscosity, as an indication of flocculation onset, was associated with whey protein stabilized fish oil emulsion prepared at pH of 3.4 and gelatin stabilized fish oil emulsion made at pH of 6.8. At pH 3.4, it appeared that lower surface charge and higher surface area of WPI stabilized emulsions promoted lipid oxidation and production of hexanal.