High temperature-short time glycation to improve heat stability of whey protein and reduce color formation

Glycation of whey protein isolate (WPI) improves functionalities such as heat stability. Conventionally, glycation is achieved by heating at <∼90 °C for hours up to several days, which favors the formation of Maillard reaction products such as 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF) that is linked to undesirable color and flavor. In this work, we report for the first time that glycating WPI with lactose or maltodextrin at 130 °C for <30 min and 79% relative humidity simultaneously reduced the color formation and improved the heat stability. Maltodextrin was less reactive than lactose, as a longer (30 vs. 20 min) glycation at 130 °C was needed to obtain heat stability at all acidity (pH 3.0–7.0) and ionic (0–150 mM NaCl or CaCl2) conditions. However, WPI glycated with maltodextrin had a lighter color and a lower content of HMF. Our findings indicate high temperature-short time glycation favors the industrial production of high quality WPI ingredients.