TY - JOUR
T1 - Alkali cold gelation of whey proteins. Part I
T2 - Sol-gel-sol(-gel) Transitions
AU - Mercade-Prieto, Ruben
AU - Gunasekaran, Sundaram
PY - 2009/5/19
Y1 - 2009/5/19
N2 - The cold gelation of preheated whey protein isolate (WPI) solutions at alkaline conditions (pH >10) has been studied to better understand the effect of NaOH in the formation and destruction of whey protein aggregates and gels. Oscillatory rheology has been used to follow the gelation process, resulting in novel and different gelation profiles with the gelation pH. At low alkaline pH, typical sol-gel transitions are observed, as in many other biopolymers. At pH >11.5, the system gels quickly, after ∼300 s, followed by a slow degelation step that transforms the gel to a viscous solution. Finally, there is a second gelation step. This results in a surprising sol- gel-sol-gel transition in time at constant gelation conditions. At very high pH (>12.5), the degelation step is very severe, and the second gelation step is not observed, resulting in a sol-gel-sol transition. The first quick gelation step is related to the quick swelling of the WPI aggregates in alkali, as observed from light scattering, which enables the formation of new noncovalent interactions to form a gel network. These interactions are argued to be destroyed in the subsequent degelation step. Disulfide cross-linking is observed only in the second gelation step, not in the first step.
AB - The cold gelation of preheated whey protein isolate (WPI) solutions at alkaline conditions (pH >10) has been studied to better understand the effect of NaOH in the formation and destruction of whey protein aggregates and gels. Oscillatory rheology has been used to follow the gelation process, resulting in novel and different gelation profiles with the gelation pH. At low alkaline pH, typical sol-gel transitions are observed, as in many other biopolymers. At pH >11.5, the system gels quickly, after ∼300 s, followed by a slow degelation step that transforms the gel to a viscous solution. Finally, there is a second gelation step. This results in a surprising sol- gel-sol-gel transition in time at constant gelation conditions. At very high pH (>12.5), the degelation step is very severe, and the second gelation step is not observed, resulting in a sol-gel-sol transition. The first quick gelation step is related to the quick swelling of the WPI aggregates in alkali, as observed from light scattering, which enables the formation of new noncovalent interactions to form a gel network. These interactions are argued to be destroyed in the subsequent degelation step. Disulfide cross-linking is observed only in the second gelation step, not in the first step.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=66249139567&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/la804093d
DO - 10.1021/la804093d
M3 - Article
C2 - 19432494
AN - SCOPUS:66249139567
SN - 0743-7463
VL - 25
SP - 5785
EP - 5792
JO - Langmuir
JF - Langmuir
IS - 10
ER -