At fat-water interfaces

Two forms of the casein proteins are used to stabilize oil/Water emulsions. Most siirply, a mixture of the proteins (as in sodium caseinate), or the individual proteins themselves, allows the formation thin layers, if not monolayers, of protein at fat/Water interfaces (1). By contrast, in preparations such as homogenized milk, the entities which bind to and stabilize the fat/Water interface are much larger and more complex, and may be considered as intact or semi-intact casein micelles (2). These particles are highly aggregated complexes of the four caseins ... 

This brief review conprises three subject areas (i) the structure and properties of the K-casein surface layer in casein micelles (ii) the properties of the protein fraction in homogenized milks (i.e. basically intact casein micelles adsorbed at fat-water interfaces) (iii) the properties of caseinate and individual caseins adsorbed at the interfaces. In this, we are at present less... 

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