Reversible precipitation of casein micelles with a cationic hydroxyethylcellulose

S.F. AUSAR; I.D. BIANCO; L.F. CASTAGNA; R.V. ALASINO; C.F. NARAMBUENA; E.P.M. LEIVA; D.M. BELTRAMO

AMER CHEMICAL SOC

Lugar: New York; Año: 2005 vol. 53 p. 9031 - 9031

p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal">The cationic hydroxyethylcellulose Polyquaternium 10 (PQ10) was found to produce a dose dependent destabilization of casein micelles from whole or skim milk without affecting the stability of most of the whey proteins. The anionic phosphate residues on caseins were not determinant in the observed interaction since the destabilization was also observed with dephosphorylated caseins at the same extension. However, the precipitation process was completely inhibited by rising NaCl concentration indicating an important role of the electrostatic interactions. Furthermore, the addition of 150 mM NaCl solubilized pre-formed PQ10-casein complexes rendering a stable casein suspension without a disruption of the internal micellar structure as determined by dynamic light sca