Modification of food proteins by covalent crosslinking

Naturally occurring covalent crosslinks play an important role in the structure-function relationships of proteins. The functional properties of food proteins may be modified by altering the natural crosslinks or by introducing new crosslinks into the protein structure. This review examines the naturally occurring covalent crosslinks present in proteins, the crosslinking of proteins that occurs during food processing, the various techniques used to introduce new crosslinks into proteins, and the possibilities of using such techniques to modify the functional properties of food proteins.