Structural changes of soy proteins at the oil-water interface studied by fluorescence spectroscopy

Fluorescence spectroscopy was used to acquire information on the structural changes of proteins at the oil/water interface in emulsions prepared by using soy protein isolate, glycinin, and β-conglycinin rich fractions. Spectral changes occurring from differences in the exposure of tryptophan residues to the solvent were evaluated with respect to spectra of native, urea-denatured, and heat treated proteins. The fluorescence emission maxima of the emulsions showed a red shift with respect to those of native proteins, indicating that the tryptophan residues moved toward a more hydrophilic environment after adsorption at the interface. The heat-induced irreversible transitions were investigated using microcalorimetry. Fluorescence spectroscopy studies indicated that while the protein in solution underwent irreversible structural changes with heating at 75 and 95°C for 15 min, the interface-adsorbed proteins showed very little temperature-induced rearrangements. The smallest structural changes were observed in soy protein isolate, probably because of the higher extent of protein-protein interactions in this material, as compared to the β-conglycinin and to the glycinin fractions. This work brings new evidence of structural changes of soy proteins upon adsorption at the oil water interface, and provides some insights on the possible protein exchange events that may occur between adsorbed and unadsorbed proteins in the presence of oil droplets.