Improvement of Foaming Properties of Whole Egg Powder through Maillard Reaction

In attempt to improve foaming properties of whole egg powder(WEP), WEP proteins were covalently attached to polysaccharide (maltodextrin) in a controlled aqueous solution through Maillard reaction. The optimum reaction conditions were as follows: reaction temperature was 50°C, reaction time was 120min, the weight ratio of maltodextrin:protein was 8‰. After modification, the foaming ability (FA) of WEP increased from 62.96% to 86.05%, the foaming stability(FS) increased from 20.67% to 38.97%. As the reaction proceeded, hydrophobicity and Surface SH groups increased, total SH groups and vailable lysine contents of M-WEP decreased. This results demonstrated that the Maillard reaction partially unfolds and polymerizes proteins of M-WEP and, consequently, improved foaming properties of WEP under certain controlled conditions.