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A MICRO‐SCALE METHOD FOR MEASURING THE HARDNESS OF HEAT‐INDUCED PROTEIN GELS
Author(s) -
LEE S.P.,
BATT C.A.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of texture studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.593
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1745-4603
pISSN - 0022-4901
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-4603.1993.tb01278.x
Subject(s) - materials science , composite material , capillary action , penetration (warfare) , bovine serum albumin , whey protein , penetrometer , chromatography , chemistry , mathematics , environmental science , operations research , soil science , soil water
A micro‐scale penetrometry method for testing the hardness of heat‐induced whey protein gels was developed. The hardness of gels could be determined quantitatively on sample volumes as small as 20 μl. A needle with an outside diameter of 1.06 mm (18 gauge) weighted with a water reservoir was used to measure the force which was necessary to penetrate a gel contained within a capillary tube. In parallel, the Instron was used for compression testing of protein gels. There was a high correlation between the values obtained using an Instron (70% compression) and those obtained using a micro‐penetrometer for bovine β ‐lactoglobulin gels prepared at concentrations over a range of 10‐13%. Similarly, there was a high degree of correlation for hardness measurements between both methods for gels made from either whey protein isolate or bovine serum albumin. Based upon standard curves of Instron force versus penetration force, the penetration force of whey protein gels as measured by micro‐scale penetrometry could be converted into relative Instron force units.