Abstract

CONTI, Juan P; CERIANI, María C; JULIARENA, Marcela A  and  ESTEBAN, Eduardo N. Protein and Peptide Profile of a Fluid base for Functional Beverages obtained by Whey Fermentation. Inf. tecnol. [online]. 2012, vol.23, n.2, pp. 61-70. ISSN 0718-0764.  doi: 10.4067/S0718-07642012000200008.

Proteins and peptides present in fresh whey and after fermentation to be transformed in a fluid base appropriate to prepare functional beverages were studied. With the SDS-PAGE technique (sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) it was observed total digestion of high molecular weight proteins such as lactoferrin and serum albumin. Immunoglobulin heavy chains suffered a partial digestion and the light chains were not affected. The major proteins β-lactoglobulin and α-lactalbumin did not experience any change. The peptide analysis of the cool whey and base fluid showed a profound change in the post-fermentation profile, with a distribution of 1.000 to 6.000 Dalton. The range of pre-fermentation peptides was 1.500 to 18.000 Dalton. The fermentation process caused a decrease in pH to 3.5 and increased the thermal stability of proteins. The results suggest that whey transformed by this method is a suitable fluid base for designing functional beverages.

Keywords : whey; functional drinks; bioactive peptide; lactobacilli; yeast.