Peroxidase-mediated formation of corn fiber gum-bovine serum albumin conjugates: Molecular and structural characterization

Corn fiber gum (CFG) was previously conjugated with bovine serum albumin (BSA) via peroxidase treatment to improve its emulsifying properties. The current study was undertaken to evaluate the molecular characteristics of CFG-BSA conjugates prepared at different CFG/BSA weight ratios of 10:1, 4:1, 1:1, and 1:4. After the peroxidase treatment, CFG-BSA mixtures at weight ratios of 10:1 and 4:1 showed an increase in molecular weight from 200 and 193 kDa to 218 and 223 kDa respectively. But for CFG-BSA mixtures at weight ratio of 1:4, their molecular weight decreased. Peroxidase treated CFG-BSA mixtures had a more compact but rougher surface morphology as compared with the untreated as revealed by scanning electron microscopy. At lower CFG to BSA weight ratio (1:4), particles of CFG-BSA conjugates appeared to be elongated while at higher CFG to BSA weight ratio (10:1), they were approximately spherical in transmission electron micrographs.