Pulsed electric field processing preserves the antiproliferative activity of the milk fat globule membrane on colon carcinoma cells

The present work evaluated the effect of processing on the antiproliferative activities of milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) extracts. The antiproliferative activity on human adenocarcinoma HT-29 cells of untreated MFGM extracts were compared with those extracted from pasteurized cream, thermally treated cream, or cream subjected to pulsed electrical field (PEF) processing. The PEF with a 37 kV/cm field strength applied for 1,705 μs at 50 and 65°C was applied to untreated cream collected from a local dairy. Heating at 50 or 65°C for 3 min (the passage time in the PEF chamber) was also tested to evaluate the heating effect during PEF treatments. The MFGM extracted from pasteurized cream did not show an antiproliferative activity. On the other hand, isolates from PEF-treated cream showed activity similar to that of untreated samples. It was also shown that PEF induced interactions between β-lactoglobulin and MFGM proteins at 65°C, whereas the phospholipid composition remained unaltered. This work demonstrates the potential of PEF not only a means to produce a microbiologically safe product, but also as a process preserving the biofunctionality of the MFGM.