Effects of heat treatment and acidification on the dissociation of bovine casein micelles

The effects of heat treatment and subsequent acidification of milk on the distribution of proteins, Ca and Pi between the serum and micellar phases were examined using ultracentrifugation. After heating milk at 85 degrees C for 10 min, and storing for 22 h at 4, 20 or 30 degrees C, there was a marked increase in the concentration of kappa-casein in the serum. At 4 and 20 degrees C there was also slightly more beta-casein in the serum from heat-treated milk than in that from the corresponding raw milk. The whey proteins were extensively denatured, and were almost equally distributed between the supernatants and micellar pellets. After storage for 22 h the distribution of Ca and Pi between soluble and colloidal phases in heat-treated milk was similar to that in raw milk. After acidifying heat-treated milk by the addition of glucono-delta-lactone and storing for 22 h at 4, 20 or 30 degrees C there was progressive solubilization of colloidal calcium phosphate with decreasing pH, and at pH 5.0 almost all of the Ca and Pi was present in the serum. At 20 degrees C, and even more so at 4 degrees C, serum concentrations of the individual caseins increased considerably with decreasing pH, reaching maximum levels of about 25 and 40% of the total casein at pH 5.7 and 5.5 respectively, and then decreasing rapidly at lower pH. Compared with raw milk, maximum dissociation in heat-treated milks stored at 4 and 20 degrees C occurred at higher pH, and the overall levels of dissociation of individual caseins from the micelles were lower. At 30 degrees C, the concentrations of individual caseins in the serum of heat-treated milk decreased steadily as the pH was reduced, and did not show the slight increase found previously for raw milk. The role of the denatured whey proteins in interacting with kappa-casein and in promoting aggregation of the micelles on acidification is discussed.