Rational design of enzyme compositions for the production of functional hydrolysates of cow milk whey proteins

Abstract

The design of enzyme compositions for the preparation of functional hydrolysates of whey proteins is studied. Analysis of the protein profiles of the whey from hard, semihard, and soft cheeses showed that the whey contains 50–63% β-lactoglobulin, 19–20% α-lactalbumin, and up to 11% κ-casein. According to the protein profile, the whey from Circassian cheese contains 76% casein (α-, β-, and κ-casein), 12% β-lactoglobulin, and 12% α-lactalbumin. Based on the in silico analysis, the rational design of a multienzyme composition was carried out for the hydrolysis of whey with a known protein composition taking into account the content of amino acid descriptors of biological activity and bitter taste. For the hydrolysis of whey from hard (Montazio), soft (Mozzarella and Gorgonzola), and semihard (Caciotta) cheeses, the determined optimum ratio of the Protamex and Alcalase enzymes was 3.0: 1.0% (90 min, 50°С). For soft pickled unripened cheese (Circassian), the optimum ratio of the Thermolysin and Alcalase enzymes was 2.0: 1.0% (60°С, 120 min). The use of the bioinformatics approach made it possible to obtain hydrolysates with acceptable organoleptic properties and predetermined antioxidant (400–500 μM TE/g protein) and antihypertensive (IC₅₀ 537–2500 mg protein/L) activities.