Effects of Maillard reaction conditions on the antigenicity of α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin in whey protein conjugated with maltose

The effects of Maillard reaction conditions (weight ratio of protein to sugar, temperature and time) on the antigenicity of alpha-lactalbumin (alpha-LA) and beta-lactoglobulin (beta-LG) in conjugates of whey protein isolate (WPI) with maltose were investigated. Response surface methodology was used to establish models to predict the antigenicity of alpha-LA and beta-LG and find an optimal reaction condition under which the antigenicity of alpha-LA and beta-LG reduces to minimum value. Conjugating WPI with maltose was an effective way to reduce the antigenicity of alpha-LA and beta-LG. The antigenicity of alpha-LA decreased from 32.25 mu g mL(-1) to 10.91 mu g mL(-1). And the antigenicity of beta-LG decreased from 272.4 mu g mL(-1) to 38.17 mu g mL(-1). Temperature had the greatest effect on the antigenicity of alpha-LA, while weight ratio of WPI to maltose was the most significant factor on the antigenicity of beta-LG.