A new kinetic model of ultrasound-assisted pretreatment on rice protein.

The aim of this study was to establish a new model to reflect the real ultrasound pretreatment process on rice protein (RP). In this study, ultrasound treatment affected the yield of soluble protein of RP significantly and also improved the enzymatic hydrolysis efficiently. However, the aggregation of soluble protein occurred when ultrasonic power density and temperature reached a high level. The traditional model cannot reflect the real pretreatment process on RP due to the aggregation of protein. In this paper, a modified kinetic model was thus established by introducing a parameter of aggregation coefficient based on the Fick's second law, suggesting the two coefficients were highly dependent on the ultrasonic power density and temperature. Besides, the results of scanning electron microscope (SEM) both the untreated and samples pretreated by ultrasound indicated that the enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency was influenced by changing the structure of RP. Thereto, ultrasound treatment at proper conditions can shorten the enzymolysis time of RP and improve the efficiency of hydrolysis.