Effects of temperature on food proteins and its implications on functional properties

This article surveys the knowledge in the area of protein structure and chemistry of denaturation prior to an indepth review of the effects of heat on soy, milk, and egg proteins. It also reviews the methods available to assess denaturation of proteins. Protein denaturation is an ambiguous phenomenon and the consequences of denaturation on the functional properties of proteins is further confounded by this ambiguity. For each of the three food proteins, the known chemistry of individual proteins is reviewed followed by observations made on changes induced by heat in each protein group. Food proteins are not pure entities and purification and physicochemical characterization of various components of the food proteins have not been thoroughly investigated. Further, food is a complex milieu of water, fat, carbohydrate, vitamin, minerals, etc. along with proteins, and processing affects not only each individual component in the food but also the nature and intensity of intercomponent interactions in a food.