LAUSR

BACKGROUND Protein-polyphenol interaction mechanism has always been a research hotspot, but their interaction is affected by heat treatment, which is widely applied in food processing. Moreover, effects of microwave and water bath heating on protein-polyphenol interaction mechanism have been not clarified. Pasteurization condition (65 °C, 30 min) was selected to compare effects of microwave and water bath on binding behavior, structure and cell proliferation between alpha-lactalbumin (α-LA) and safflower yellow (SY), thus providing a guide for the selection of functional dairy processing conditions. RESULTS α-LA-SY of microwave heating treatment made stronger fluorescence quenching than that of conventional heating treatment. Moreover, binding constant (Ka ) of all α-LA-SY samples augmented significantly after microwave and water bath treatment, and microwave-heated α-LA-SY showed the maximum Ka . FTIR showed that microwave heating made more ordered structures of α-LA into its disordered structures than water bath heating. However, FRAP and chroma value of α-LA-SY were more reduced by microwave than water bath heating. Moreover, microwave heating facilitated the cell proliferation of α-LA-SY than that of water bath treatment. CONCLUSION It was demonstrated that microwave heating promoted interaction between α-LA and SY more than water bath heating. Microwave heating treatment was a safe effective way to enhance the binding affinity of α-LA to SY, being a potential application in food industry. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.