Statistical modeling of in vitro pepsin specificity

The specificity of pepsin, the major protease of gastric digestion, has been previously investigated, but only regarding the primary sequence of the protein substrates. The present study aimed to consider in addition physicochemical and structural characteristics, at the molecular and sub-molecular scales. For six different proteins submitted to in vitro gastric digestion, the peptide bonds cleaved were determined from the peptides released and identified by LC-MS/MS. An original statistical approach, based on propensity scores calculated for each amino acid residue on both sides of the peptide bonds, concluded that preferential cleavage occurred after Leu and Phe, and before Ile. Moreover, reliable statistical models developed for predicting peptide bond cleavage, highlighted the predominant role of the amino acid residues at the N-terminal side of the peptide bonds, up to the seventh position (P7 and P7'). The significant influence of hydrophobicity, charge and structural constraints around the peptide bonds was also evidenced.

Production and application of freeze dried biocomposite coating powders from sunflower oil and soy protein or whey protein isolates

Innovative biocomposite coating powders based on soy protein isolate or whey protein isolate, both containing sunflower oil (SO) were fabricated by freeze drying technique. The influences of concentration of SO and using different protein isolate types on the physicochemical, thermal and morphological properties of the powders were investigated. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermal analysis revealed that SO interacted with protein isolates through hydrogen bonding resulted a strong network structure of the powders. It was found that amorphous structure and morphology of the powders was not significantly influenced by oil addition. Moisture content and water activity values of SPI powders were found higher than those of WPI. All powders were wettable, and solubility values were in the range of 91-99%. Preservative-free powders were reconstituted and applied to coat sliced cakes, a bakery product. Coating application showed effective protection on textural structure of cake by high moisture preservation ability.

Evaluation of the heat damage of whey and whey proteins using multivariate analysis

Maillard reaction (MR) was assessed in 10 powdered whey samples. Initial stages of MR were evaluated using furosine, intermediate stages with hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and absorbance at 284nm, advanced stages with color parameters (CIELab color) and final stages with browning index; additionally, insolubility, pH and water activity (Aw) were measured. Principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) were used to establish the heat damage of samples based on relations between variables. Three principal components were found which explained 79.0% of the total variance and they were the basis for cluster analysis where 5 clusters were formed. PCA and CA can separate samples according to their heat damage and they help in a clearer interpretation of the information from indicators which shows that samples with high lactose content exhibited the higher heat damage.