Investigating on the interaction behavior of soy protein hydrolysates/β-glucan/ferulic acid ternary complexes under high-technology in the food processing: High pressure homogenization versus microwave treatment.

The interaction behavior between food bio-macromolecules is the key point to develop the novel functional food ingredients. Effects of high pressure (HP) or microwave treatment (MW) on the physicochemical properties and microstructures of soy protein hydrolysates (SH)/β-glucan/ferulic acid complexes (S-G-F) were investigated. The results showed that both HP and MW treatment significantly reduced the S-G-F complex particle size and fluorescence intensity along with the improved thermal stability and antioxidant activity but did not affect the zeta potential and the crystal structure. HP treatment changed the conformation of SH by increasing the β-sheet content and decreasing the unordered structure, while MW treatment induce the increase in random coils content and the decreased in the α-helix content of SH. Accordingly, compared with MW treatment, HP treatment could result in the formation of a more compact structure with the uniform distribution through the stronger hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interaction between components. This work revealed the interaction behaviors of food multi-component self-assembled nanoscale aggregation under high-technology in the food processing, which could provide a new direction for the development of antioxidant food ingredients by effectively utilizing the interaction between food components.