Alcohol induced structural and dynamic changes in β-lactoglobulin in aqueous solution: A neutron scattering study

Alcohol-Induced Denaturation of Hen Egg White Lysozyme Studied by Infrared, Circular Dichroism, and Small-Angle Neutron Scattering

In aqueous binary solvents with fluorinated alcohols, 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE) and 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP), and aliphatic alcohols, ethanol (EtOH) and 2-propanol (2-PrOH), the denaturation of hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL) with increasing alcohol mole fraction xA has been investigated in a wide view from the molecular vibration to the secondary and ternary structures. Circular dichroism (CD) measurement showed that the secondary structure of α-helix content of HEWL increases on adding a small amount of the fluorinated alcohol to the aqueous solution, while the β-sheet content decreases. On the contrary, the secondary structure does not significantly change by the addition of the aliphatic alcohols. Correspondingly, the infrared (IR) spectroscopic measurements revealed that the amide I band red-shifts on the addition of the fluorinated alcohol. However, the band remains unchanged in the aliphatic alcohol systems with increasing alcohol content. To observe the ternary structure of HEWL, small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) experiments with H/D substitution technique have been applied to the HEWL solutions. The SANS experiments were successful in revealing the details of how the geometry of the HEWL changes as a function of xA. The SANS profiles indicated the spherical structure of HEWL in all of the alcohol systems in the xA range examined. The mean radius of HEWL in the two fluorinated alcohol systems increases from ∼16 to ∼18 Å during the change in the secondary structure against the increase in the fluorinated alcohol content. On contrast, the radius does not significantly change in both aliphatic alcohol systems below xA = 0.3 but expands to ∼19 Å as the alcohol content is close to the limitation of the HEWL solubility. According to the present results, together with our knowledge of the alcohol cluster formation and the interaction of the trifluoromethyl (CF3) groups with the hydrophobic moieties of biomolecules, the effects of alcohols on the denaturation of the protein have been discussed on a molecular scale.

Reversibility of the gel, rheological, and structural properties of alcohol pretreated fish gelatin: Effect of alcohol types

The reversibility of gel property of alcohol (methanol, ethanol)-pretreated fish gelatin (FG) were investigated through removing alcohol solutions by freeze drying. Results showed that the gel strength and the hardness of FG could be retained (1%, 40%) or even improved (1% methanol) using low or high concentration alcohol solutions, while decreased in medium concentration alcohol solutions. Compared with untreated FG, rheology results showed that, all alcohol solutions pretreated FG had lower apparent viscosity, while higher alcohol solutions pretreated ones decreased the gel and melt points and shorten the gelation time. Sodium dodecyl-sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that methanol pretreated FG had the higher α contents than those of ethanol pretreated. Circular dichroism spectra results indicated that β-sheet could be decreased after removing ethanol solutions, whereas the β-sheet increased after removing the methanol solutions. Moreover, low field nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation test showed that pretreated FG had lower transverse relaxation times of internal water (T₂₁ and T₂₂ ) compared to that of the untreated FG. Overall, FG still retains higher gel properties after removing the low or high alcohol concentrations.

Efficiency of milk proteins in eliminating practical limitations of β-carotene in hydrated polar solution

The objective of this work was to study β-carotene functionalities (color and antioxidant activity) and practical limitations (aggregate formation, poor solubility and low stability) when included in the aqueous systems containing milk proteins. According to the results, self-association constant of β-carotene in the presence of casein is 1.7-fold of that calculated for WPI. Casein and WPI were capable of conserving β-carotene against chemical oxidation up to 15 and 12%, respectively, at 1:5 M ratio of β-carotene to protein. While, WPI reduced its photodegradation quantum yield from 0.03 to 0.012 compared to 0.017 obtained for casein. A 2.7- and 3.6-fold enhancement in β-carotene solubility was observed in the presence of 1.5 mg/mL of casein and WPI, respectively. The study of β-carotene interaction with proteins showed, on the one hand, a negative effect on electron transfer and, on the other hand, improved hydrogen transfer to the radical species in the solution.

Spectroscopic Insight on Ethanol-Induced Aggregation of Papain

In this contribution, the structural and dynamic changes occurring to papain in ethanol-water binary solvent mixtures have been investigated and compared with its denatured state. Steady-state fluorescence, solvation dynamics, time-resolved rotational anisotropy, circular dichroism (CD), and single molecular-level fluorescence correlation spectroscopic (FCS) studies were performed for this purpose. In ethanol-water mixtures with X_EtOH = 0.6, N-(7-dimethylamino-4-methylcoumarin-3-yl)iodoacetamide (DACIA)-tagged papain was found to undergo a blue shift of 12 nm, while in the presence of 5 M GnHCl, a red shift of 5 nm was observed. Solvation dynamics of the system was also found to be different in the presence of these external agents. In ethanol-water mixtures, the average solvation time was found to increase almost 2-fold as compared to that in water, while in the presence of GnHCl, only a marginal increase could be observed. These changes of DACIA-tagged papain in ethanol-water mixtures are attributed to the aggregation of the protein in the presence of ethanol. The residual anisotropy was found to increase 14-fold, and the rotational time component corresponding to the rotation of the probe molecule was found to increase by 4-fold in the ethanol-water mixture which also gives a notion of the papain aggregation. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) confirms this aggregate formation, which is also quantified by the FCS study. The hydrodynamic radius of the protein aggregates in ethanol-water mixtures was calculated to be ∼155 Å as compared to the corresponding value of 18.4 Å in the case of native monomer papain. Also, it confirmed that the aggregate formation takes place even in the nanomolar concentration of papain. Analysis of circular dichroism spectra of papain showed that an increase in the β-sheet content of papain at the expense of α-helix and the random coil with an increase of the ethanol mole fraction may be responsible for this aggregation process.

Flavor Retention and Release from Beverages: A Kinetic and Thermodynamic Perspective

For the investigation of retention and release of flavor components, various methods are available, which are mostly used on a case-to-case basis depending on the raw material. These effects that originate from kinetics and thermodynamics could be put in a much wider perspective if these fields were taken as a starting point of investigation in combination with rigorous data analysis. In this Review, we give an overview of experimental techniques and data analysis methods, and predictive methods using mass transfer techniques are also discussed in detail. We use this as a foundation to discuss the interactions between volatile flavors and the matrix of liquid foods/beverages. Lipids present in the form of an emulsion are the strongest volatile retainers due to the lipophilic nature of most of the volatile flavors. Proteins also have flavor retention properties, whereas carbohydrates hardly have a retention effect in beverages. Smaller components, such as sugars and salts, can change the water activity, thereby facilitating flavor release. Alternatively, salts can also indirectly affect binding sites of proteins leading to release (e.g., NaCl and Na2SO4) or retention (NaCSN and Cl3CCOONa) of flavors. Furthermore, the effects of temperature and pH are discussed. The Review concludes with a critical section on determination of parameters relevant to flavor release. We highlight the importance of accurate determination of low concentrations when using linearization methods and also show that there is an intrinsic preference for nonlinear regression methods that are much less sensitive to measurement error.

Ionic liquid-induced formation of the α-helical structure of β-lactoglobulin

Structural modification of bovine milk β-lactoglobulin (β-LG) in aqueous 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium nitrate ([bmim][NO3]) and ethylammonium nitrate ([EAN][NO3]) solutions has been investigated by Fourier transform infrared and circular dichroism spectroscopy. Remarkably, high ionic liquid (IL) concentrations (>15 mol %IL) caused formation of a non-native α-helical structure of β-LG and disruption of its tertiary structure. Furthermore, while [bmim][NO3] promoted protein aggregation, [EAN][NO3] inhibited it probably owing to differences in the unique solution structure (nanoheterogeneity) of the ILs by the different cationic species. The IL-induced α-helical formation of β-LG shows a behavior similar to the alcohol denaturation, but a disordered structure-rich state was observed in the β-α transition process by adding IL, in contrast to the case of an aqueous alcohol solution of protein. We propose that the molten salt-like property of aqueous IL solutions strongly support α-helical formation of proteins.