Protein cross-linking in food

• Main Authors: Juliet A Gerrard, Meade SJ, Miller AG, Brown PK, Suhaimi Md. Yasir, Sutton KH, Newberry MP
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2005
• Subjects: TX341-641 Nutrition. Foods and food supply
• Online Access: https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/19225/1/Protein%20cross.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/19225/; https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1333.012

The aims of this paper are (1) to probe the relationship betweenmolecular structure and protein cross-linking ability for a range of small mol-ecules; (2) to establish whether this relationship holds within a food matrix;and (3) to test the impact of Maillard cross-linking on food functionality, par-ticularly texture, in wheat- and soy-based food systems. A variety of moleculeswere obtained, either commercially or via organic synthesis. Cross-linkingability was tested using our standard model system, employing ribonuclease Aand analyzing the results by SDS-PAGE. Molecules of varying reactivity weretested in wheat- and soy-based products, and the changes in functionality werecorrelated with changes in protein cross-linking. No simple relationship wasfound between molecular structure and ability to cross-link ribonuclease. Onlythe most reactive reagents were able to cross-link within the food matrix.Nevertheless, a low degree of cross-linking was shown to have significant con-sequences on the properties of wheat- and soy-based foods, suggesting that theMaillard reaction may represent a means to control food texture.