Issue 8, 2014

Effect of gel structure on the gastric digestion of whey protein emulsion gels

Abstract

This study aimed to characterize and determine the disintegration of emulsion gels in a human gastric simulator (HGS) and the physicochemical characteristics of gastric digesta. Using thermal treatment at 90 °C, whey protein emulsion gels with different structures and gel strengths were formed by varying the ionic strength. Simulated boluses of soft (containing 10 mM NaCl) and hard (200 mM NaCl) gels, which had similar particle sizes to those of human subjects, were created for gastric digestion. Soft gels disintegrated faster than hard gels in the HGS. The boluses of both gels gradually disintegrated into particles of size ∼10 μm. With further digestion, the protein matrix of the soft gel particles dissolved, the proteins were disrupted mainly by proteolysis and large quantities of oil droplets were released. In contrast, for the hard gel particles, although all proteins were hydrolysed after 240 min the breakdown of the particles was slow and no oil droplets were released after 300 min. The differences in the breakdown of soft and hard gels in the HGS were attributed to the structures of the emulsion gel, which may result in different sets of peptides in the digestion. In addition, coalescence of the oil droplets was observed only for the soft gel.

Graphical abstract: Effect of gel structure on the gastric digestion of whey protein emulsion gels

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Nov 2013
Accepted
30 Dec 2013
First published
07 Jan 2014

Soft Matter, 2014,10, 1214-1223

Effect of gel structure on the gastric digestion of whey protein emulsion gels

Q. Guo, A. Ye, M. Lad, D. Dalgleish and H. Singh, Soft Matter, 2014, 10, 1214 DOI: 10.1039/C3SM52758A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements