The effect of sucrose on the thermodynamic properties of ovalbumin and sodium caseinate in bulk solution and at air–water interface

This paper presents a study of the effect of sucrose on the molecular parameters and thermodynamic properties in a bulk aqueous medium and at the air–water interface for two proteins differing both in nature and structure, that is Na-caseinate and ovalbumin. To get more insight into the molecular nature of the effect of sucrose, mixing calorimetry, light scattering and tensiometry measurements have been made under different pHs (7.0 and 5.5) and temperatures (20–55°C) at an ionic strength of 0.005 mol dm⁻³. Combined temperature dependencies of light scattering and mixing calorimetry testify to hydrogen bonding (sucrose-protein and/or sucrose-water) as being the primary basis of the effect of sucrose on the molecular and thermodynamic properties of the proteins in the bulk and at interface of an aqueous medium. At pH 7.0, in the case of ovalbumin, the interaction with sucrose causes an increase in the protein hydrophilicity in the bulk aqueous medium followed by a decrease in the protein surface activity, whilst for Na-caseinate, there is an increase in the protein hydrophobicity due to Na-caseinate micelle dissociation and, consequently, to an increase in the protein surface activity. Lowering the pH to 5.5, accompanied by a strengthening of the competition between less charged proteins and sucrose for water molecules, induces a rise in the protein hydrophobic aggregation in the bulk. The special features of the latter process are probably mainly responsible for the changes in the surface activity of the proteins under influence of sucrose at pH 5.5.