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Updated: Jul 30, 2026

Preparation of Expanded Chitin Foams and their Use in the Removal of Aqueous Copper
Published on: February 27, 2021
Insight into microbial transglutaminase induced mung bean protein isolate-chitin nanocrystals composite gels:
Kangning Wang1, Yiyang Jia1, Mengyao Li1
1Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, PR China.
None:
The poor elasticity and loose structure of mung bean protein isolate (MBPI) gel have limited their applications. In this study, we investigated the effect of chitin nanocrystals (ChNCs) on the MBPI gelation induced by microbial transglutaminase (mTG). The results showed that incorporating ChNCs at an appropriate concentration enhanced the MBPI gels hardness, water-holding capacity (WHC), and degradation temperature by 73.5 %, 29 %, and 6 °C, respectively, while reduced the syneresis rate from 39 % to 17 %. Multispectral analysis results revealed that the introduction of ChNCs altered the molecular conformation of MBPI, with an increase in β-sheet content and a shift in protein conformation towards a more open state. In vitro digestion demonstrated that ChNCs raised curcumin encapsulation efficiency to 75.6 % and extended its release over 6 h. Overall, this research provided valuable insights and practical guidance for developing high-performance legume protein-based gel foods using naturally sourced ChNCs.

