Emulsifying properties of ovalbumin: Improvement and mechanism by phosphorylation in the presence of sodium tripolyphosphate

• The phosphorus content of PP-OVA-pH 7.0 was 37.15 times that of N-OVA.
• Increase of PP-OVA zeta potential absolute value reduced emulsion particle size.
• EAI of PP-OVA-pH7.0 and ESI of PP-OVA-pH5.0 increased 142.6% and 99.6% respectively.
• The mechanism of OVA phosphorylation was analyzed using FTIR, 31P NMR and XPS.
• Both C–O–P and C–N–P bonds were formed between OVA and STP.

In this work, ovalbumin (OVA) was phosphorylated by dry-heating at three different pH values (5.0, 7.0 and 9.0) and 45 °C for 12 h in the presence of sodium tripolyphosphate (STP). The results indicated that, when compared with native OVA (N-OVA), the zeta potential absolute value of phosphorylated OVA (PP-OVA) increased from 2.13 mv (N-OVA) to 13.57(PP-OVA-pH5.0), 16.00(PP-OVA-pH 7.0) and 11.20 mv (PP-OVA-pH 9.0); the volume-weighted mean diameter (D [4,3])of emulsions stabilized by the N- and PP-OVA decreased from 70.22 μm (N-OVA) to 37.16(PP-OVA-pH 5.0), 16.21(PP-OVA-pH 7.0) and 43.52 μm (PP-OVA-pH 9.0); and PP-OVA emulsions exhibited a more narrow monomodal size distribution and a smaller particle size than those of N-OVA, with the corresponding emulsifying activities index (EAI) increased from 92.71(N-OVA) to 142.51(PP-OVA-pH5.0), 224.88(PP-OVA-pH 7.0), and 150.97(PP-OVA-pH 9.0), respectively. The microscopic observation showed that the emulsion droplets of PP-OVA were more densely and uniformly distributed than those of N-OVA. Furthermore, characterization of PP-OVA by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (31P NMR) revealed that phosphate groups were bound to the -OH on serine and threonine and the -NH2 on lysine and arginine, with covalent interactions (C–O–P and C-N-P bounds) formed between OVA and STP. This study demonstrated that the introduction of phosphate groups could increase the amount of negative charge and intermolecular repulsion, decrease the particle size of droplets and improve the emulsifying ability of PP-OVA.

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