Chemical changes in bovine milk fat globule membrane caused by heat treatment and homogenization of whole milk

The effects of heat treatment and homogenization of whole milk on chemical changes in the milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) were investigated. Heating at 80 C for 3-18 min caused an incorporation of whey proteins, especially beta-lactoglobulin (beta-lg), into MFGM, thus increasing the protein content of the membrane and decreasing the lipid. SDS-PAGE showed that membrane glycoproteins, such as PAS-6 and PAS-7, had disappeared or were weakly stained in the gel due to heating of the milk. Heating also decreased free sulphydryl (SH) groups in the MFGM and increased disulphide (SS) groups, suggesting that incorporation of beta-lg might be due to association with membrane proteins via disulphide bonds. In contrast, homogenization caused an adsorption of caseins to the MFGM but no binding of whey proteins to the MFGM without heating. Binding of caseins and whey proteins and loss of membrane proteins were not significantly different between milk samples that were homogenized before and after heating. Viscosity of whole milk was increased when milk was treated with both homogenization and heating.