Effect of the biopolymer mixing ratio on the formation of electrostatically coupled whey protein-κ- and ι-carrageenan networks in the presence and absence of oil droplets

Recent application of protein hydrolysates in food texture modification

The demand for clean labels has increased the importance of natural texture modifying ingredients. Proteins are unique compounds that can impart unique textural and structural changes in food. However, lack of solubility and extensive aggregability of proteins have increased the demand for enzymatically hydrolyzed proteins, to impart functional and structural modifications to food products. The review elaborates the recent application of various proteins, protein hydrolysates, and their role in texture modification. The impact of protein hydrolysates interaction with other food macromolecules, the effect of pretreatments, and dependence of various protein functionalities on textural and structural modification of food products with controlled enzymatic hydrolysis are explained in detail. Many researchers have acknowledged the positive effect of enzymatically hydrolyzed proteins on texture modification over natural protein. With enzymatic hydrolysis, various textural properties including foaming, gelling, emulsifying, water holding capacity have been effectively improved. It is evident that each protein is unique and imparts exceptional structural changes to different food products. Thus, selection of protein requires a fundamental understanding of its structure-substrate property relation. For wider applicability in the industrial sector, more studies on interactions at the molecular level, dosage, functionality changes, and sensorial attributes of protein hydrolysates in food systems are required.

Interaction-Induced Structural Transformations in Polysaccharide and Protein-Polysaccharide Gels as Functional Basis for Novel Soft-Matter: A Case of Carrageenans

Biocompatible, nontoxic, and biodegradable polysaccharides are considered as a promising base for bio-inspired materials, applicable as scaffolds in regenerative medicine, coatings in drug delivery systems, etc. The tunable macroscopic properties of gels should meet case-dependent requirements. The admixture of proteins to polysaccharides and their coupling in more sophisticated structures opens an avenue for gel property tuning via physical cross-linking of components and the modification of gel network structure. In this review recent success in the conformational studies of binary protein-polysaccharide gels is summarized with the main focus upon carrageenans. Future perspectives and challenges in rational design of novel polysaccharide-based materials are outlined.

In silico-screened cationic dipeptides from scallop with synergistic gelation effect on ι-carrageenan

In this paper, some cationic dipeptides from scallop (Patinopecten yessoensis) male gonads (SMGs), which can synergistically gel with ι-carrageenan (ι-C), were screened by the in silico approach. Fourteen protein sequences of SMGs were obtained by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and nano liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (nanoLC-MS/MS) analysis and were then hydrolyzed via in silico simulation. A total of 414 sequences were obtained with 56 duplicates, half of which were positively charged at pH 7. Among the cation sequences, 171 had good water solubility, including two amino acids (Lys and Arg). The molecular weight analysis of the cationic water-soluble sequences showed that 0.2-0.3 kDa accounted for the highest proportion. Based on the obvious synergistic effect of Lys and ι-C, 11 Lys-containing dipeptides, including Ser-Lys (SK), Thr-Lys (TK), Trp-Lys (WK), Ala-Lys (AK), Leu-Lys (LK), Gly-Lys (GK), Val-Lys (VK), Cys-Lys (CK), Asn-Lys (NK), Phe-Lys (FK), and Met-Lys (MK), were finally screened out to study gelation with ι-C. It was found that the dipeptides/ι-C formed firm gels except WK/ι-C. The values of the storage modulus (G') of 11 dipeptides/ι-C were investigated by a rheometer. The G' of 8 dipeptides/ι-C was higher than 1000 Pa. These results indicated that the in silico-screened dipeptides from SMGs can form composite gels with ι-C, which can be used for the design and development of functional hydrogels.