Supramolecular study of the interaction between mannoproteins from Torulaspora delbrueckii and flavanols

In this work, three mannoprotein extracts were obtained from T. delbrueckii by enzymatic and chemical treatments. The obtained mannoprotein extracts showed important differences in their molecular weight distribution and monosaccharide composition, although no significant differences were found in their protein content. In order to evaluate the possible influence of mannoprotein characteristics in the interaction with flavanols, mannoprotein-flavanol interactions were studied by HPLC-DAD-MS and ITC. The results obtained indicate that the mannoprotein extracts were able to precipitate flavanols to a different extent. Furthermore, the degree of flavanol precipitation seemed not to be related to the affinity of the interaction but to the type of intermolecular forces. In this sense, a higher proportion of hydrogen bonding could favor a greater crosslinking between aggregates promoting flavanol precipitation. This, in turn, could be related to the MP characteristics since the presence of β-glucan moieties might have an effect on the formation of hydrogen bonds.