EFFECT OF HIGH HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE ON WHEY HYDROLYSIS USING NOVO PRO-D® ENZYME

High Hydrostatic Pressure (HHP) treatment causes changes in protein structure that may enhance hydrolysis, increase bioactive properties and alter allergenicity responses of the hydrolyzate. In this sense, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of HHP before (pretreatment - PT) and during (assisted hydrolysis - AH) protein hydrolysis of a whey protein concentrate (WPC) using Novo Pro-D® enzyme. The HHP treatments were performed according to 2² factorial design with 3 repetitions of the central point, in which the independent variables were pressure (100, 250, 400 MPa) and time (5, 20 and 35 minutes). Soluble protein contents, peptide profiles (RP-HPLC), antioxidant capacity (ORAC) and antigenicity (ELISA) of hydrolysates were evaluated. The reduction of soluble proteins was above 90% for hydrolysis performed on pretreated whey (PT) and untreated whey (HC) after 15 minutes of reaction. However, in the assisted hydrolysis (AH), the reduction of soluble proteins was lower (~ 50% for treatments with pressures of 100 to 250 MPa). The peptide profiles were similar between PT and HC, with complete hydrolysis of -la and -lg after 15 minutes of reaction. However, in AH the main hydrolyzed protein was -lg. A higher oxygen absorption capacity (ORAC) was observed for PT treatments in relation to HC and AH. However, all treatments reduced the antigenicity of hydrolysates with an 86% reduction in reactive -lg when compared to WPC. Thus, the use of high pressure would be interesting as PT if the increase in bioactivity was the parameter of choice. However, if the aim is to obtain a high degree of hydrolysis with reduced antigenicity, conventional hydrolysis using Novo Pro-D was the best treatment.