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Atmospheric Cold Plasma-Induced Changes in Milk Proteins

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Abstract

The growing interest in minimal processing of foods due to its mild effects on product quality and taste has led to an increase in the research on novel techniques for food processing. One of these emerging techniques is atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) processing. This study investigated the effect of ACP processing on major milk proteins where plasma was generated using nitrogen–oxygen (N2–O2) and nitrogen (N2). Changes in whey protein denaturation and distribution, protein–protein interactions of aggregates, and antigenicity of milk proteins as a function of treatment time and feed gas composition were evaluated. Results show that, among whey proteins, ⍺-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin have the highest susceptibility to denaturation by N2–O2 and N2 plasma and that ACP changed the ratio of native β-lactoglobulin and native ⍺-lactalbumin present in milk serum. The aggregates formed by 1 min N2–O2 plasma treatment showed an increase in their disulfide bonding and a decrease in the hydrogen bonding. N2 and N2–O2 plasma decreased ⍺-lactalbumin antigenicity (as measured by ELISA) after 1 min and 4 min, respectively. β-Lactoglobulin antigenicity decreased with time only during N2–O2 plasma treatment, while casein antigenicity decreased with time, regardless of gas composition (N2–O2: 0.9 mol nitrogen and 0.1 mol oxygen per mol gas; N2: 1 mol nitrogen gas).

Industrial Relevance

Atmospheric cold plasma processing of foods is being extensively researched for its advantages over thermal processing techniques. This research shows the ability of plasma generated from different gases to partially denature and redistribute whey proteins between colloidal and serum phase of milk. Partially denatured whey proteins enhance the functional properties of milk such as gelling and foaming capacities which are of interest to the food industry. The ability of cold plasma to reduce the antigenicity of milk proteins is also investigated. This study shows the potential of atmospheric cold plasma to be used for processing of milk to create products with unique textures, properties, and reduced allergenicity.

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Data Availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article (and its supplementary information files).

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Dr. Catrin Tyl (Department of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science, Norwegian University of Life Sciences) for her directions and technical expertise with the experiments and Mr. Carl Ruiz (Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Georgia) for his assistance with cold plasma processing. We also wish to extend gratitude to Mr. Clay Crippen (Szymanski lab, Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, University of Georgia) for assistance with electrophoresis experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    Shruti Sharma, Himanshu Prabhakar & Rakesh K. Singh

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  1. Shruti Sharma
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  2. Himanshu Prabhakar
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  3. Rakesh K. Singh
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Contributions

Shruti Sharma: idea conception, study design, data collection and data analysis, and writing the original draft of the manuscript. Himanshu Prabhakar: data analysis and result compilation. Rakesh K. Singh: idea conception, direction in study design, supervision in data collection and analysis, and review and editing of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Rakesh K. Singh.

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Sharma, S., Prabhakar, H. & Singh, R.K. Atmospheric Cold Plasma-Induced Changes in Milk Proteins. Food Bioprocess Technol 15, 2737–2748 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-022-02915-z

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