Interaction between lactoferrin and whey proteins and its influence on the heat-induced gelation of whey proteins.

In this paper, the influence of lactoferrin (LF) on the structural development of whey protein isolate (WPI) gels during heating was investigated. The results demonstrated that the presence of sufficient LF could improve the strength and elasticity of WPI gels. When 30% LF was added, the elastic modulus of WPI gels increased from 254 ± 31 and 413 ± 58 Pa to 3222 ± 105 and 2730 ± 131 Pa at pH 6.7 and 5.8, respectively. The addition of LF improved the water holding capacity (WHC) of WPI gels at pH 6.7, while no improvement was observed at pH 5.8. LF interacted with whey proteins differently at pH 6.7 and 5.8 during heating. The LF/whey proteins complexes formed at pH 6.7 had smaller sizes and narrower size distributions than those formed at pH 5.8.