Exploring the effect of milk protein concentrate on the physicochemical and digestive properties of fermentation-induced mung bean protein gels

Mei Yang; Yuhan Tang; Hongfei Li; Siya Guo; Jiangpo Wu; Yao Zhang; Yingying Zhu; Junjian Ran

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.145090

Exploring the effect of milk protein concentrate on the physicochemical and digestive properties of fermentation-induced mung bean protein gels

Int J Biol Macromol. 2025 Jun 8;318(Pt 2):145090. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.145090. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Mei Yang¹, Yuhan Tang², Hongfei Li², Siya Guo², Jiangpo Wu², Yao Zhang², Yingying Zhu³, Junjian Ran⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Food Science, Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Key Lab Breeding Base of College of Henan Province, Xinxiang Engineering Technology Research Center for Agricultural Products Processing, Research and Experimental Base for Traditional Specialty Meat Processing Techniques of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China, Xinxiang, Henan 453003, China. Electronic address: yangm2022@hist.edu.cn.
² School of Food Science, Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Key Lab Breeding Base of College of Henan Province, Xinxiang Engineering Technology Research Center for Agricultural Products Processing, Research and Experimental Base for Traditional Specialty Meat Processing Techniques of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China, Xinxiang, Henan 453003, China.
³ College of Food and Bioengineering, Zhengzhou R&D Center for high-quality innovation of Green Food (Green Premium Agricultural Products), Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, Zhengzhou 450001, China.
⁴ School of Food Science, Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Key Lab Breeding Base of College of Henan Province, Xinxiang Engineering Technology Research Center for Agricultural Products Processing, Research and Experimental Base for Traditional Specialty Meat Processing Techniques of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China, Xinxiang, Henan 453003, China. Electronic address: ranjunjian@126.com.

PMID: 40494459
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.145090

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the impact of introducing varying percentages (10-50 %) of milk protein concentrate (MPC) on the physicochemical characteristics and in vitro digestibility of fermentation-induced mung bean protein (MBP) gels. The results indicated that the storage modulus (G'), hardness, and chewiness of the MBP/MPC hybrid yogurt gel initially increased and then reduced with rising MPC levels. The MBP/MPC gel with a composition of 30 % MPC and 70 % MBP exhibited the highest G' and water-holding capacity (WHC) as well as the most uniform and dense network structure. This enhancement is primarily attributed to the MPC promoting hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonding among protein molecules. In contrast, when the MPC substitution exceeded 40 %, the gel quality deteriorated, characterized by delayed gel acidification, reduced storage modulus (G'), decreased WHC, and a looser network structure. Furthermore, MBP/MPC gel exhibited higher soluble protein content and peptide content compared to MBP gel. The gastrointestinal digestibility of MBP/MPC gel was higher than MBP gel. These findings would serve as a theoretical reference for the application of MBP and MPC in the development of hybrid protein gel-based yogurt.

Keywords: Gel properties; Milk protein concentrate; Mung bean protein.