Lu Mingyue, Huo Jiaying, Liu Xin, Yu Xiongwei, Fu Qinli, Gao Ying, Ma Lulu, Li Shugang
Engineering Research Center of Bio-process, Ministry of Education/Key Laboratory for Agricultural Products Processing of Anhui Province/School of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China.
Wuhan Xudong Food Co., Ltd, Wuhan, China.
J Sci Food Agric. 2025 Jul 28. doi: 10.1002/jsfa.70082.
Egg white protein (EWP) can be used to enhance the thermal gel properties of pumpkin seed protein (PSP), but the underlying molecular mechanism and potential for foods for individuals with dysphagia remain unexplored. This study aims to investigate the texture properties of PSP-EWP co-gelation.
Egg white protein significantly improved disulfide bond formation (from 31.74% to 41.70%) and promoted hydrophobic group folding within the composite system. These structural modifications enhanced the protein-water binding capacity, as evidenced by a 94.19% increase in bound water content, thus exhibiting marked improvements in hardness (from 27.63 to 599.72 g), springiness (from 28.32% to 87.55%), and water-holding capacity (from 16.06% to 68.04%) of the dual protein composite gel. Multiple techniques, including secondary structure analysis, fluorescence spectroscopy, particle size measurement, surface hydrophobicity assessment, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), collectively revealed the mechanism of dual-protein aggregate formation. These aggregated function within the gel system by enabling proteins to regulate aggregation behavior through the synergistic effects of electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding. Egg white protein dominated the construction of dense gel network scaffolds in the composite gels, whereas PSP hindered cross-linking through physical obstruction, resulting in a porous structure. When the PSP:EWP ratio was 8:4, 6:6, or 4:8, the International Dysphagia Dietary Standardization Initiative (IDDSI) test showed that the composite gel could be classified into six or seven grades. Such result indicated that the composite gel was suitable for people with mild dysphagia.
The results showed that the properties of PSP-EWP composite gels could be controlled by adjusting the PSP:EWP ratio, indicating the potential use in transitional foods for patients with dysphagia. © 2025 Society of Chemical Industry.
蛋清蛋白（EWP）可用于增强南瓜籽蛋白（PSP）的热凝胶特性，但潜在的分子机制以及对吞咽困难个体的食品适用性仍未得到探索。本研究旨在探究PSP-EWP共凝胶的质地特性。
蛋清蛋白显著改善了复合体系中的二硫键形成（从31.74%提高到41.70%），并促进了疏水基团折叠。这些结构修饰增强了蛋白质与水的结合能力，结合水含量增加94.19%即为明证，从而使双蛋白复合凝胶的硬度（从27.63克提高到599.72克）、弹性（从28.32%提高到87.55%）和持水能力（从16.06%提高到68.04%）均有显著改善。包括二级结构分析、荧光光谱、粒度测量、表面疏水性评估、原子力显微镜（AFM）和扫描电子显微镜（SEM）在内的多种技术共同揭示了双蛋白聚集体形成的机制。这些聚集体在凝胶体系中发挥作用，使蛋白质能够通过静电相互作用和氢键的协同效应调节聚集行为。蛋清蛋白主导了复合凝胶中致密凝胶网络支架的构建，而PSP则通过物理阻碍作用阻碍交联，从而形成多孔结构。当PSP:EWP比例为8:4、6:6或4:8时，国际吞咽困难饮食标准化倡议（IDDSI）测试表明，复合凝胶可分为六到七个等级。该结果表明，复合凝胶适用于轻度吞咽困难的人群。
结果表明，可通过调整PSP:EWP比例来控制PSP-EWP复合凝胶的特性，这表明其在吞咽困难患者过渡食品中的潜在应用价值。© 2025化学工业协会。
