Ovotransferrin nanofibril formation in the presence of glycerol or sorbitol

Pretreatment with low-frequency magnetic fields can improve the functional properties of pea globulin amyloid-like fibrils

Plant protein fibrils have recently attracted considerable attention due to their superior mechanical and interfacial properties. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of low-frequency magnetic field (LF-MF) pretreatment in enhancing the conversion and functional characteristics of the amyloid-like fibrils derived from pea globulin (PG), which was considered a sustainable hypoallergenic protein. The results showed that LF-MF-treated PG (MPG) assembled into longer amyloid-like fibrils compared with native PG (NPG). The MPG presented similar gelling, emulsifying, and foaming properties to the NPG, while the fibril samples exhibited significantly improved functional properties. Moreover, the amyloid-like fibrils generated from the MPG (MPGF) showed large aspect ratios accompanied by superior solubility, molecular flexibility, emulsion stability, and gelling properties. The improved functional properties of the amyloid-like fibrils generated from the MPG can provide a promising outlook for expanding the applications of the PG in food, medicine and other fields.

Design of Novel Knot-like Structures Based on Ovotransferrin Fibril-Gum Arabic Complexes: Effective Strategies to Stabilize Pickering Emulsions

This work aimed to clarify the effects of gum arabic (GA) on the morphology and properties of ovotransferrin fibrils (OVTFs). By constructing OVTF-GA complexes and exploring the dispersion stability, turbidity and the ζ-potential of the complexes, the optimum mass ratio of OVTFs to GA and pH for complex formation were confirmed as being 1:1 and pH 4.6, respectively. The interaction between OVTFs and GA was determined to be predominantly driven by electrostatic attraction. The OVTF-GA complexes exhibited a knot-like structure when observed using atomic force microscopy. Then, OVTFs and OVTF-GA complexes were compared in terms of contact angle, surface hydrophobicity and dynamic interfacial tension. The combination of OVTFs and GA decreased the contact angle of OVTFs from 80.85° to 70.36°. In comparison with OVTFs, OVTF-GA complexes reduced the oil-water interfacial tension to a lower level (8.14 mN/m). Furthermore, the capacities of OVTF-GA complexes in stabilizing emulsions were explored. OVTF-GA complex-stabilized oleogel-based Pickering emulsion (OGPE) was constructed, and OVTF-stabilized oleogel-based Pickering emulsion (OPE) was used as the control. OGPE had a higher emulsified phase volume fraction (EPVF) and stability index (SI). The EPVF of OGPE was 100.0% and 99.4% before and after one-month storage, respectively, compared with 98.3% and 95.7% of OPE. This work can provide some useful references for the design of biopolymers with novel structures composed of protein fibrils and polysaccharides, which may also help to construct and apply protein fibril-polysaccharide complexes under specific needs.

Effects of ultrasound-assisted glycosylation on the interface and foaming characteristics of ovotransferrin

Ovotransferrin (OVT) is one of the major functional proteins in egg white protein. Most of the industry only paid attention the biological activity of OVT in iron supplement, antibacterial and other aspects, few reports were carried out on its processing characteristics such as foaming, interfacial behavior such as emulsification and foaming, which was an important processing functional attribute affecting its application scenario. In this study, the effects of ultrasound-assisted glycosylation on the interface and foaming characteristics of OVT were investigated. The results showed that proper ultrasonic treatment had a significant effect on the structure and physicochemical properties of OVT glycosylation products. When ultrasonic treatment lasted for 20 min, the grafting degree of OVT was 20.98%, the particle size decreased and the absolute value of potential increased. The foaming ability of OVT increased first and then decreased after ultrasonic-assisted glycosylation treatment. The foaming ability of OVT increased from 43.54% to 96.73% and the foaming stability increased from 68.92% to 89.19% after ultrasonic-assisted glycosylation treatment for 20 min. The experimental study effectively discovered the effect of ultrasound-assisted glycosylation on the foaming property of OVT, and would provide important technical references for expanding its application in food, biology, medicine and other fields.

Ultrasonic pretreatment enhanced the glycation of ovotransferrin and improved its antibacterial activity

This study aims to evaluate the effect of ultrasonic pretreatment combined with glycation on the structural characteristics and antibacterial activity of ovotransferrin (OVT). Firstly, OVT (purity >90%) was isolated from egg white with a simple and efficient method. After the treatment of ultrasound and glycation, the browning degree of OVT increased with the rising power of ultrasound, while the number of free amino groups obviously decreased to 25.4%. Various spectrum detection showed that the structures of OVT have changed significantly, indicating the tertiary structure became more flexible and looser. The minimal inhibitory concentration of ultrasound glycated OVT were 25.0 and 32.1 μmol/L for E. coli and S. aureus, respectively. In summary, ultrasound-assisted glycation is an effective technique to improve the biological activity of OVT.

Hydrogels assembled from ovotransferrin fibrils and xanthan gum as dihydromyricetin delivery vehicles

Novel ovotransferrin fibril–xanthan gum hydrogels were assembled to deliver dihydromyricetin effectively.