The intervening effect of l-Lysine on the gel properties of wheat gluten under microwave irradiation

To improve the quality of wheat gluten (WG) gels, the effect of l -Lysine on gelatin formation of WG under microwave (MW) irradiation was studied. The strength of WG gels treated by MW heating increased significantly (P < 0.05) in the alternating electromagnetic fields with zwitterionic l -Lysine. l -Lysine enhanced the surface hydrophobicity of WG under MW irradiation indicating that the dielectric buffering of l -Lysine changed the conformation of WG. The second structure of WG by Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy showed that the α-helix content of WG decreased, while the β-sheet content. Furthermore, compared to the non- l -Lysine addition group, the ultraviolet absorption and fluorescence intensity of the WG increased. Scanning electron microscopy presented denser porous network microstructure of WG gels by MW treatment with adding l -Lysine. These results elucidate the regulation effect of l -Lysine on WG gelation in the MW field.