อทิตยา ตุ้นสกุล. Effect of Reducing Agent on Rheological and Functional Properties of Defatted Rice Bran Protein-Based Material. Master's Degree(Food Engineering). King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi. KMUTT Library. : King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, 2012.
Effect of Reducing Agent on Rheological and Functional Properties of Defatted Rice Bran Protein-Based Material
Abstract:
The development of protein-based materials into bio-plastics has received much interest
during the past years. However, limitation still exists due mainly to the high viscosity of
protein aggregation. The objective of this work was to study the effect of reducing agent
addition on the rheological properties of plasticized defatted rice bran protein (DRBP)
and functional properties of DRBP-based materials. DRBP was extracted from defatted
rice bran by alkaline extraction. 30 wt% glycerol-plasticized DRBP containing either 0,
1 or 3 wt% reducing agent, which was either sodium sulfite or L-cysteine, was thermomolded
at 100 C by compression molding. Rheological properties of the plasticized
DRBP were investigated via the use of a controlled strain rheometer. Protein
aggregation of thermo-molded DRBP materials was studied in terms of the protein
solubility, disulfide content and protein molecular weight. Finally, mechanical
properties were analyzed by a texture analyzer. The results showed that the addition of a
reducing agent could reduce the viscosity and increase the liquidlike nature of the
plasticized-DRBP; an increase in the reducing agent content could also reduce the
viscosity of the material. However, comparing between different types of the reducing
agent no significant difference in the viscosity of the plasticized DRBP was observed.
From the study of protein aggregation, it was found that the addition of a reducing agent
could increase the protein solubility, reduce the level of disulfide bonds and lower the
protein molecular weight. In terms of the mechanical properties, no significant
differences in Young's modulus, tensile strength and elongation at break of thermomolded
DRBP materials with 0-3 wt% reducing agents were observed. Therefore,
addition of reducing agent is an alternative to enlarge the protein thermal processing
window by decreasing the protein viscosity; the mechanical properties of protein-based
materials are also not affected.