Enhanced ovalbumin stability at oil-water interface by phosphorylation and identification of phosphorylation site using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

To improve the interfacial properties, a phosphorylation modification of OVA was performed through dry-heating at three different pH values (5.0, 7.0 and 9.0) in the presence of sodium tripolyphosphate. X-ray photoelectron and Raman spectroscopies confirmed that phosphate groups were successfully grafted onto the ovalbumin backbone through covalent interaction to form O P bond. Additionally, 23, 21 and 18 phosphorylation sites were identified in the OVA that had been phosphorylated at pH 5.0, 7.0 and 9.0 (P-OVA5, P-OVA7 and P-OVA9) respectively by MALDI-TOF mass spectroscopy. More phosphorylated peptides and possible phosphorylation sites were found here than in previous studies with the reaction time reduced to 12   h. As a result, the iso-electric point (pI) of P-OVA shifted to lower pH, improving the stability of the P-OVA-included system over a wider pH range. The dynamic interfacial tension, which depends on the phosphorylation-induced conformational change, was explored by Fourier-transform Raman and circular dichroism spectroscopies, and the equilibrium interfacial tension decreased from 17.359   mNm −1 for natural OVA (N-OVA) to 15.969   mNm −1 for P-OVA9. Furthermore, P-OVA was applied to O/W emulsions, resulting in a narrower size distribution with a smaller particle size in P-OVA-stabilized emulsions than in N-OVA-stabilized emulsions. The increase rate of mean particle diameter after 60-min storage decreased from 72.37% for N-OVA to 7.97% for P-OVA5, implying a significant improvement of emulsion stability by preventing aggregation and coalescence. The results from this work demonstrated that the natural biopolymer can be applied to O/W emulsions by enhancing interfacial properties with phosphorylation.