The interaction of trehalose and molten globule state soybean 11S globulin and its impact on foaming capacities

Abstract BACKGROUND Soybean 11S globulin has good functional properties, which are widely used in the field of food. However, natural soybean 11S globulin (N‐11S) has low flexibility and is easy to aggregate, impacting its foaming process. Studies have shown that soybean 11S globulin in molten globule state (MG‐11S) has better molecular flexibility than N‐11S, and trehalose has been shown to improve the properties of proteins. Therefore, this study investigated the interaction mechanism between trehalose and MG‐11S, and its impact on rheological and foaming properties of MG‐11S. RESULTS The molecular docking and intrinsic fluorescence results showed that hydrogen bonding was the main interaction force at lower than 0.5 mol L −1 trehalose added. Meanwhile, rheology and foaming showed that the MG‐11S–trehalose complexes had better viscoelasticity, foaming ability (66.67–86.67%) and foaming stability (75.00–89.29%) than N‐11S (16.67% foaming ability and 40.00% foaming stability); however, when the trehalose was higher than 0.5 mol L −1 , molecular crowding occurred and H‐bonds were weakened, resulting in reduction of foaming capacities. Microstructure determination showed that trehalose attached to the surface of foam membrane; meanwhile, the foaming structure of the complex with 0.5 mol L −1 trehalose had a thicker liquid film with decreased drainage rate, less agglomeration and disproportionation of foam, illustrating the best foaming ability and foaming stability. CONCLUSION The results suggested that trehalose at different concentrations can interact with MG‐11S through different mechanisms, and improve the foaming capacity of MS‐11S. This provided a reference for the application of MS‐11S in foaming food. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.