Improving rehydration properties of spray-dried milk protein isolates by supplementing soluble caseins.

[Display omitted] • Soluble caseins improved the rehydration properties of spray-dried MPIs. • Soluble caseins did not change the composition and morphology of MPIs. • Wettability of MPIs decreased as the soluble casein content increased. • Soluble caseins reduced the cross-linking of casein micelles during spray drying. • The reduced cross-linking improved the rehydration properties of MPIs. Spray-dried milk protein isolates (MPIs) are important dairy ingredients but may not have desirable rehydration properties for industrial applications. In the present study, rehydration properties of MPIs were improved by spray-drying MPI dispersions containing different amounts of soluble caseins in the form of derivatized MPI (dMPI). dMPI was prepared by alkalizing MPI dispersions to pH 11.0 and subsequently acidifying to pH 6.8 (the pH-cycle). All the spray-dried MPIs had the similar bulk density (around 0.33 g/cm−3), composition, size distribution (1–100 µm), and SEM morphology. However, the decrease of hydrodynamic diameter, dissolution of total solids and proteins, and disruption of particles during the dynamic rehydration were accelerated as the dMPI content increased, indicating the improved rehydration properties. The improvement in rehydration properties was not due to the wettability that decreased as the dMPI:MPI mass ratio changed from 0:8 to 8:0, but resulted from the reduced cross-linking of casein micelles on powder surface and the increased surface porosity during the hydration as observed for partially hydrated samples. The present work may assist industrial applications of spray-dried MPIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]