Molecular characteristics of ovalbumin–dextran conjugates formed through the Maillard reaction

High-performance size exclusion chromatography with multi-angle laser light scattering detection was used to determine the molar mass, molar size, and size distribution of ovalbumin–dextran conjugates formed through the Maillard reaction. SDS–PAGE patterns revealed that dextran and ovalbumin were covalently bonded to each other. Up to 2.5 mol of dextran appeared to bind with 1 mol of ovalbumin, resulting in a conjugate with a maximum molar mass of around 70 kDa. The conjugates had weight-average molar mass values ranging from 84.4 to 105.1 kDa, and root mean square radius values ranging from 19.6 to 26.4 nm. The conjugates prepared by the Maillard reaction were polydisperse and were made more compact by increasing the ratio of dextran bound to ovalbumin.