Physicochemical and sensory characteristics of whey protein hydrolysates generated at different total solids levels

摘要

Whey protein hydrolysates were generated at different total solids (TS) levels (50-300 g/l) using the commercially available proteolytic preparation Debitrase™ HYW20, while enzyme to substrate ratio, pH and temperature were maintained constant. Hydrolysis proceeded at a faster rate at lower TS reaching a degree of hydrolysis (DH) of 16.6% at 300 g TS/l, compared with a DH of 22.7% at 50 g TS/l after 6 h hydrolysis. The slower breakdown of intact whey proteins at high TS was quantified by gel-permeation HPLC. Reversed-phase (RP) HPLC of hydrolysate samples of equivalent DH (～15%) generated at different TS levels indicated that certain hydro-phobic peptide peaks were present at higher levels in hydrolysates generated at low TS. Sensory evaluation showed that hydrolysates with equivalent DH values were significantly (P < 0.0005) less bitter when generated at 300 gTS/l (mean bitterness score = 25.4%) than hydrolysates generated at 50 g TS/l (mean bitterness score = 39.9%). A specific hydrophobic peptide peak present at higher concentrations in hydrolysates generated at low TS was isolated and identified as β-lactoglobulin f(43-57), a fragment having the physical and chemical characteristics of a bitter peptide.