Production and characterisation of potato patatin–galactose, galactooligosaccharides, and galactan conjugates of great potential as functional ingredients

Potato proteins are of high interest because of their high nutritional quality and multiple health benefits, but they are currently undervalued due to their limited solubility and stability. Glycated patatin (PTT) with galactose, galactooligosaccharides (GOSs) and galactan were produced through the Maillard reaction and characterised structurally and functionally. Fourier-transform infrared and fluorescence spectroscopy data revealed important changes in total secondary structures through glycation with GOSs (61.2%) and galactan (36.7%) and also significant tertiary structural changes leading to an exposure of tryptophan residues. These structural changes led to more heat stable forms of PTT with a higher unfolding temperature (70–90 °C) than the unmodified protein (50–70 °C) and with higher antioxidant activity. PTT:galactose conjugates exhibited similar thermal stability and pH-structural behaviour to native PTT. However, the high level of galactose conjugation to PTT and increased exposure of hydrophobic residues led to a significant increase in its emulsifying stability at pH 3.