Denis Lorient

New ingredients in food processing: biochemistry and agriculture.

Growth and functional properties of intermediate foodstuffs Manufacturing processes Vegetable-based intermediate foodstuffs Milk and egg products Meat products Marine products Products from sugar Starches Lipids Colourings and flavourings.

Covalent bonds formed in proteins during milk sterilization: studies on caseins and casein peptides

Formation of covalent bonds at milk sterilization temperatures was studied using caseins and casein peptides. At 120 degrees C lysinoalanyl residues produced even at pH 7.0 were derived from intra-molecular interactions between phosphoserine and lysine; the conditions of formation were determined. It was also found that the formation fo isopeptidic cross-links was significant with conditions more severe than those used for milk sterilization.

Surface properties of the bovine casein components: relationships between structure and foaming properties

In order to optimize the use of caseins as surfactants, the surface tension, foaming capacity and stability were measured as a function of pH, ionic strength, protein concentration and polarity (modified by covalent binding of carbohydrates). We found that the caseins differ in their behaviour at the air/water interface with β-casein showing the greatest ability to decrease surface tension and to produce foams, due probably to its amphipathic structure. In experiments carried out at pH values close to pI, with low ionic strength and constant solubility (optimal conditions for foam formation), we observed a high surface hydrophobicity, a good accessibility and flexibility of peptidic side chains (evaluated by proteolysis), and a high foaming capacity parallelled by increased surface pressure. Foam stability of caseins was low compared to those of globular proteins such as β lactoglobulin.