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Fabrication Of Protein-Polysaccharide Particulates Through Thermal Treatment Of Associative Complexes, Owen Griffith Jones

Open Access Dissertations

Mixed solutions of β-lactoglobulin and anionic polysaccharides, specifically pectin, were formed into associative complexes through pH reduction from neutral conditions. Thermal treatment of these associative complexes was investigated as a function of biopolymer composition, heating conditions, pH, and ionic strength. Thermal treatment of β-lactoglobulin-pectin complexes at pH 4.5 – 5.0 was found to create protein-based particulates of consistent and narrow size distribution (diameter ~ 150 – 400 nm). These particulates were relatively stable to further pH adjustment and to high levels of salt (200 NaCl). Particle characteristics were maintained after re-suspending them in aqueous solutions after they have been either …