Glycation of whey protein isolate (WPI) improves functionalities such as heat stability. Conventionally, glycation is achieved by heating at <∼90 °C for hours up to several days, which favors the formation of Maillard reaction products such as 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF) that is linked to undesirable color and flavor. In this work, we report for the first time that glycating WPI with lactose or maltodextrin at 130 °C for <30 min and 79% relative humidity simultaneously reduced the color formation and improved the heat stability. Maltodextrin was less reactive than lactose, as a longer (30 vs. 20 min) glycation at 130 °C was needed to obtain heat stability at all acidity (pH 3.0-7.0... More
Glycation of whey protein isolate (WPI) improves functionalities such as heat stability. Conventionally, glycation is achieved by heating at <∼90 °C for hours up to several days, which favors the formation of Maillard reaction products such as 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF) that is linked to undesirable color and flavor. In this work, we report for the first time that glycating WPI with lactose or maltodextrin at 130 °C for <30 min and 79% relative humidity simultaneously reduced the color formation and improved the heat stability. Maltodextrin was less reactive than lactose, as a longer (30 vs. 20 min) glycation at 130 °C was needed to obtain heat stability at all acidity (pH 3.0-7.0) and ionic (0-150 mM NaCl or CaCl2) conditions. However, WPI glycated with maltodextrin had a lighter color and a lower content of HMF. Our findings indicate high temperature-short time glycation favors the industrial production of high quality WPI ingredients.
