The impact of alkaline electro-activation (EA) on the protein solubility, foaming, and emulsifying characteristics of whey was investigated. EA caused protein aggregation and conjugation. At low electric current and holding time, proteins aggregation through disulfide bonds was observed, whereas increasing currents and holding times caused proteins to conjugate with sugars such as lactose, lactulose and galactose. The EA process improved the protein solubility at the pH range of 4.0–7.0. Compared to untreated whey, which produced micron-sized and unstable emulsions at pH 3, whey samples treated under 750 mA and 24–48 h holding time formed nano-sized and stable emulsions at this pH. Furthermore, although both untreated and EA-whey produced stable emulsions at pH 7, those emulsions prepared with EA-whey had smaller particle size and were more stable against droplet flocculation. EA-treated whey tended to generate foams with significantly higher overrun and stability. The present study demonstrated that EA can enhance the functionality of whey.

研究了碱性电活化 (EA) 对乳清的蛋白质溶解度、发泡和乳化特性的影响。EA 导致蛋白质聚集和结合。在低电流和保持时间下，观察到蛋白质通过二硫键聚集，而增加电流和保持时间会导致蛋白质与乳糖、乳果糖和半乳糖等糖类结合。EA 工艺在 4.0-7.0 的 pH 范围内提高了蛋白质的溶解度。与未处理的乳清相比，在 pH 3 下产生微米级和不稳定的乳液，在 750 mA 和 24-48 小时保持时间下处理的乳清样品在此 pH 下形成纳米级和稳定的乳液。此外，尽管未经处理的乳清和 EA-乳清在 pH 7 下都能产生稳定的乳液，那些用 EA-乳清制备的乳液粒径更小，对液滴絮凝更稳定。EA 处理的乳清倾向于产生具有显着更高的膨胀度和稳定性的泡沫。本研究表明，EA 可以增强乳清的功能。