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Article
The Effect of Binary Cosolvent Systems (Glycerol-Sucrose Mixtures) on the Heat-Induced Gelation Mechanism of Bovine Serum Albumin
International Journal of Food Science & Technology (2005)
  • Stefan K. Baie
  • D. Julian McClements, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Abstract

The influence of cosolvent composition on the thermal denaturation and gelation of bovine serum albumin (BSA) has been studied. Cosolvent composition was varied by changing the ratio of glycerol to sucrose in 40 wt% cosolvent solutions containing BSA. Differential scanning calorimetry measurements on 0.5 wt% BSA solutions showed that the thermal denaturation temperature of the protein increased with increasing sucrose content. Temperature scanning dynamic shear rheology and turbidity measurements on 4 wt% BSA solutions showed that the gelation temperature and final gel strength increased with increasing sucrose concentration. These observations were attributed to the fact that sucrose was more effective than glycerol at increasing the thermal stability and attraction between globular BSA molecules through a steric exclusion effect. The molecular origin of these effects is the tendency for the system to minimize the contact area of the protein molecules with the surrounding cosolvent solution.

Disciplines
Publication Date
December 12, 2005
Publisher Statement
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2621.2005.01048.x
Citation Information
Stefan K. Baie and D. Julian McClements. "The Effect of Binary Cosolvent Systems (Glycerol-Sucrose Mixtures) on the Heat-Induced Gelation Mechanism of Bovine Serum Albumin" International Journal of Food Science & Technology Vol. 41 Iss. 2 (2005)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/djulian_mcclements/124/