Abstract
The production of ultrafine fibers of proteins and polysaccharides by needleless electrospinning can be performed prior to a thermal treatment to form glycoconjugates via the first stage of the Maillard reaction. The aim was to produce potato protein–maltodextrin conjugates with a varying protein content of 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, and 0.2 g/mL by needleless electrospinning and subsequent thermal treatment (0, 6, 12, 24, and 48 h at 65 °C and 75% relative humidity). The concentrations of the maltodextrins, with a dextrose equivalent of 2 and 21, were kept constant at 0.8 and 0.1 g/mL. The highest fiber production rate was achieved with a protein content of 0.1 g/mL (5.8 ± 0.4 g/h). With increasing protein content, the production rate decreased to 2.8 ± 0.5 g/h. The fibers obtained from the spinning solution containing 0.2 g/mL protein showed the largest average diameter (4.0 ± 1.5 µm) and the broadest fiber diameter distribution. The protein content of the fibers was close to that of the corresponding spinning solution. The browning index after 48 h of heating increased for all samples (9.7–14.7) compared to the unheated samples (1.1–3.3). The results indicate that the protein content has an impact on the yield, the fiber diameter, and the morphology of the fibers.
Highlights
Potato protein is an increasingly interesting alternative for many existing proteins used as food ingredients [1,2]
The significantly highest production rate was achieved with blend B (5.78 ± 0.4 g/h), whereas at the highest protein content, the production rate significantly decreased to
The comparison of the production rates of the blends B, C, and D shows that the production rate decreased with increasing protein content
Summary
Potato protein is an increasingly interesting alternative for many existing proteins used as food ingredients [1,2]. The amino acid composition of potato protein is beneficial due to the high content in essential and branched chain amino acids, and its biological valence is very close to that of whole egg [3]. In addition to its nutritional benefits, potato protein has functional properties, such as emulsification and foaming ability, which make it useful in the food industry [4]. Potato proteins can be used for the production of vegetable meat substitutes and, because of their combination of emulsification and gelling properties, in emulsified meat products [5]. Two percent of the potato fruit juice, a byproduct of industrial starch production, makes up for the protein fraction [6]. Protease inhibitors inhibit the activity of serine protease, cysteine protease, aspartate protease, and metalloprotease, reducing the digestibility and availability of the proteins [8]
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