Title: Self-assembling dairy proteins for the production of novel bionanomaterials

Authors: Kate Ryder; M. Azam Ali; Alan Carne; Jagan Billakanti

Addresses: Centre for Bioengineering and Nanomedicine and Department of Biochemisty, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand; Callaghan Innovation, Lower Hutt, 5010, New Zealand ' Centre for Bioengineering and Nanomedicine and Department of Biochemisty, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand; Callaghan Innovation, Lower Hutt, 5010, New Zealand ' Centre for Bioengineering and Nanomedicine and Department of Biochemisty, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand; Callaghan Innovation, Lower Hutt, 5010, New Zealand ' Centre for Bioengineering and Nanomedicine and Department of Biochemisty, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand; Callaghan Innovation, Lower Hutt, 5010, New Zealand

Abstract: The casein family of proteins shows promise for the formation of value added bionanomaterials. A co-product that is rich in casein is produced in excess as a by-product of the dairy and dairy processing industries. Caseins derived from dairy dissolved air flotation (DAF)-derived casein sludge were found to possess different fundamental properties. When analysed by RP-HPLC, the hydrophobic profile of the DAF-derived caseins were found to be different from that of skim milk powder (SMP) caseins. Rheological studies found that DAF-derived caseins were more viscous than those from SMP, which supported the idea that the DAF process may have induced some additional cross-linking between neighbouring caseins. This was also justified by the high apparent molecular weight of some caseins when separated on SDS-PAGE and identified by MALDI-TOF MS. The DAF-derived caseins were found to self-assemble, and produce cohesive and flexible films when dried under controlled conditions. These observations indicate that the DAF-derived caseins may have distinct features enabling the production of novel value-added bionanomaterials.

Keywords: casein; protein; bionanomaterial; bioplastic; film; DAF; dissolved air flotation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNT.2018.098447

International Journal of Nanotechnology, 2018 Vol.15 No.8/9/10, pp.773 - 778

Published online: 22 Mar 2019 *

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