Plasteins, properties

The properties of plasteins are quite different from those of the starting peptide mixture. In addition to insolubility in... 

Pallavicini et al. (16) utilized a-chymotrypsin immobilized on chitin to catalyze plastein formation from leaf protein hydrolyzates. When analyzed by gel exclusion chromatography, the products were comparable to those produced by soluble enzymes. Modification of Specific Functional Properties... 

Plastein Formation. Plastein formation is another example of using proteases to modify high-protein food systems to drastically change the properties of that system (II). In the plastein reaction a protease such as papain is used to partially hydrolyze the proteins to about a 10,000-20,000-dalton size at a pH near neutrality. After concentrating the hydrolyzate to 35% (based on protein) and a change in pH, the same protease or a different one is used to catalyze the resynthesis of a few peptide bonds. This may result in a decrease in the solubility of the protein. 

More details of the plastein reaction and its application to remove pigments such as chlorophyll, or to remove off-flavor components such as the beany taste of soybeans, are shown in Figure 2. The protein of the food system is solubilized and denatured (in order to achieve proteolysis), a protease is added, and the hydrolytic reaction is allowed to proceed. On partial hydrolysis of the protein the pigments and flavor constituents are released from the protein they are removed, the hydrolyzate is concentrated, and resynthesis and/or rearrangement of the amino acid sequence of the polypeptides is catalyzed by the same or a different protease. Resynthesis also can be carried out in the presence of added amino acid esters in order to improve the nutritional/functional properties of the protein. 

Partial proteolysis has been used by several researchers to improve functional properties, i.e. foaming, solubility of proteins (7,8,9). The significant problems associated with enzyme hydrolysis of proteins are excessive hydrolysis occurring under batch conditions, the generation of bitter flavors during hydrolysis and the cost of enzymes. Extensive information on factors affecting proteolysis of proteins and the problem of bitterness has been reviewed by Fujimaki et al. (7) in conjunction with studies of the plastein reaction. 

Solubilization of Protein. Fish protein concentrate has high nutritional quality as determined both from its essential amino acid composition and from animal feeding experiments. Unfortunately, the concentrate is quite insoluble in water because of its denaturation by the solvent extraction method used in processing thus it contributes no functional properties to a food and must be used in bakery products primarily. A potentially useful method of solubilizing the protein is by proteolysis (9-12). As is the case with protein hydrolysates of casein and soybean protein, bitter peptides are formed during the hydrolysis. Papain and ficin produce more of these bitter peptides than does Pronase, for example (12). Pronase was found to produce a more brothy taste (13). A possible method of removing the bitter peptides is to convert the concentrated protein hydrolysate to plastein by further proteolytic enzyme action (14) to remove the bitter peptides. 

Fish protein concentrate, although a good protein source nutritionally, is very insoluble this limits its use in foods. The protein can be solubilized by proteolytic enzymes, but the hydrolysate is bitter (12). It would be useful to investigate the plastein reaction for removal of the bitter taste as well as for changing the solubility properties of the digest (14). The plastein reaction is described more fully in Chapter 6 of this monograph. 

Properties of Plasteins. Plasteins are generally characterized by their low solubility in water. If during the resynthesis reaction a part of the product becomes insoluble, this serves as a driving force. Aso et al. (56, 57) investigated some physicochemical properties of a water-insoluble fraction of a plastein produced from a soybean globulin hydrolysate. This fraction interacted with l-anilino-8-naphthalene sulfonate (ANS) to give a new and larger ANS emission spectrum at 450 nm (Table II). 

Table II. Hydrophobic Properties of a Plastein Compared with Its Substrate...

This plastein was considered to be a protein largely because of its solubility properties. As mentioned in the Introduction (p. 3-4), at that time the nature of proteins was still far from being defined the formation of a slightly soluble product by pepsin could have been a sort of coagulation without the real formation of peptide bonds. This may be the reason why the plastein reaction was not investigated further for more than twenty years, and completely elucidated only in the 1960s. 

Enzymatic techniques can be used to endow proteins with surface-active functionality. An enzymatic technique that has shown promise in enhancing surface properties of proteins is a modified version of the classical plastein reaction. The plastein reaction is known to be a protease-catalyzed reverse process in which a peptide-peptide condensation reaction [11,12] proceeds through the peptidyl-enzyme intermediate formation [13]. It is essentially a two-step process enzymatic hydrolysis of a protein and plastein formation from the hydrolysate peptides. A novel one-step process was developed as a modified type of the plastein reaction by Yamashita et al. [14,15], which... 

The versatility of the plastein reaction is also demonstrated by examples wherein undesired amino acids are removed from a protein. A phenylalanine-free diet, which can be prepared by mixing amino acids, is recommended for certain metabolic defects. However, the use of a phenylalanine-free higher molecular weight peptide is more advantageous with respect to sensory and osmotic properties. Such peptides can be prepared from protein by the plastein reaction. First, the protein is partially hydrolyzed with pepsin. Treatment with pronase under... 

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