Recent developments in phosphorylation modification on food proteins: Structure characterization, site identification and function

Food proteins are susceptible to environmental stresses, including pH variance, thermal condition, high osmotic pressure, and the presence of other intervenes (enzymes, for instance), which cause restrained processing, transportation and storage activities. Phosphorylation of proteins via the incorporation of phosphate groups (PO43−) has been vastly applied in emulsifiers, gelling and foaming agents in functional food models or systems, which may be an alternative to improve the protein functions and increase their processing compatibilities. This review focuses on the phosphorylation preparations via conventional (dry heating and wet heating) and novel (ultrasound and microwave) techniques. The characterization approaches and phosphorylation site elucidation were discussed to clarify the structure function relationship of phosphorylated proteins. The functional properties of proteins after phosphorylation are also presented. Deep understanding of phosphorylation would assist in modifying proteins with certain processing characteristics and yielding protein products with high satisfactory.