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The market for dairy powders, including high addedvalue products (e.g., infant formulas, protein isolates) has increased continuously over the past decade. However, the processing and storage of whey protein isolate (WPI) powders can result in changes in their structural and functional properties. It is therefore of great importance to understand the mechanisms and to identify the structural markers involved in the aging of WPI powders to control their end use properties. This study was performed to determine the effects of different storage conditions on protein lactosylations, protein denaturation in WPI, and in parallel on their foaming and interfacial properties. Six storage conditions involving different temperatures (θ) and water activities (aw) were studied for periods of up to 12 mo. The results showed that for θ ≤ 20°C, foaming properties of powders did not significantly differ from nonaged whey protein isolates (reference), regardless of the aw. On the other hand, powders presented significant levels of denaturation/aggregation and protein modification involving first protein lactosylation and then degradation of Maillard reaction products, resulting in a higher browning index compared with the reference, starting from the early stage of storage at 60°C. These changes resulted in a higher foam density and a slightly better foam stability (whisking) at 6 mo. At 40°C, powders showed transitional evolution. The findings of this study will make it possible to define maximum storage durations and to recommend optimal storage conditions in accordance with WPI powder end-use properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study was undertaken to characterize the interfacial and foaming properties of different mixtures at the air–water interface under the same concentration range, and to put into light putative particular behaviors of mixtures. Different complementary techniques have been coupled such as null ellipsometry, surface tension and shear elastic constant measurements as well as polarization-modulation infrared reflection–absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS). Moreover, the foaming properties were also investigated by a bubbling method. Solutions of either ovalbumin or lysozyme exhibit different interfacial behaviors. Ovalbumin does not form multilayers, even at high concentration. Conversely, lysozyme forms films that are much thicker than a protein monolayer whereas the surface pressure is definitely smaller than that ovalbumin. It thus seems that ovalbumin is much more surface active than lysozyme. The ellipsometric angles for the binary mixtures are much higher than those of films formed by the pure proteins, independently of the molar ratio. These results suggest that there is a synergy in the interfacial adsorption between the two proteins, which is confirmed by PM-IRRAS measurements, most likely due to the electrostatic interactions between the oppositely charged lysozyme and ovalbumin. Moreover, shear elastic constant measurements suggest that lysozyme has a strong effect on the organization of the interfacial film. The foaming properties of the mixtures are, however, always close to those of the pure ovalbumin solution. Therefore, lysozyme does not foam alone, but is able to foam as well as pure ovalbumin after addition of a very small amount of ovalbumin, which suggests that the synergy between proteins has an impact on the foaming properties. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]