Development and characterization of bioactive β-lactoglobulin nano-hydrogels for food applications

Abstract

Whey proteins produced during bovine cheese manufacture, or membrane fractionation of bovine milk account for increasingly valuable food ingredient – owing to their nutritionally- balanced composition in amino acid residues coupled with their functional properties (e.g. solubility, and gel-forming, emulsifying and foaming features)1. β-Lactoglobulin (β-Lg) is the major fraction of bovine whey proteins (i.e. 50 wt%), and a primary gelling agent; it is stable at low pH and highly resistant to proteolytic degradation in the stomach, besides its ability to act as encapsulating agent2.