High pressure thermal denaturation kinetics of whey proteins

Pressure processing of foodstuff has been applied to produce or modify proteinaceous gel structures. In real pressure processing the treatment is non-isothermal, due to the adiabatic nature of the process and the heat loss from the product to the vessel. In order to estimate the effect of pressurization on milk constituents pressure and temperature dependent kinetics were determined separately from each other. In a detailed kinetic study whey protein isolate was treated under isobaric (200 to 800 MPa) and isothermal conditions (-2 to 70 degrees C), and the resulting degree of denaturation of beta-lactoglobulin A and B and alpha-lactalbumin was analysed. Kinetic parameters of denaturation were estimated using a one step non-linear regression method which allowed a global fit of the whole data set. The isobaric isothermal denaturation of beta-lactoglobulin and alpha-lactalbumin was found to follow third and second order kinetics, respectively. Isothermal pressure denaturation of both beta-lactoglobulin fractions do not differ significantly and were characterized by an activation volume decreasing with increasing temperature from -10 to about -30 ml mol(-1), which demonstrates that the denaturation rate is accelerated with increasing temperature. The activation energy of about 70 to 100 kJ mol(-1) obtained for beta-lactoglobulin A and B is not dependent to a great extent on the pressure which indicates that above 200 MPa denaturation rate is limited by the aggregation rate while pressure forces unfolding of the molecule.