Controlling the textural properties of protein gels is of high importance for designing food and other protein products. The combination of animal-derived proteins and plant-based proteins offer the possibility to create nutritional, sustainable, and also textural advantageous products. However, interactions between proteins from different sources and with different molecular features are not well-understood yet. By analyzing the interactions between whey (WPI) and potato proteins (PPIs), we can determine how gel structures in protein gels form. Through different mixing ratios, pH levels, and ionic strengths, we show how the formation of disulfide and hydrophobic bonds influence the textural properties of protein gels. It could be shown that, up to a 50:50 mixing ratio, the properties of PPI dominate those of WPI. Gels with a high elasticity could be formed only through the development of a continuous disulfide network.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.