Insight into the mechanism of the aggregation behavior of wheat protein modulated by l-lysine under microwave irradiation

This study explored the mechanism of l -lysine intervention in wheat gluten protein (WG) gel formation under a microwave (MW) field. The results showed that the MW treatment had higher ζ -potential values at the same heating rate. After adding l -lysine, the solution conductivity and dielectric loss were significantly increased. Moreover, the WG gel strength enhanced 4.40% under the MW treatment. The Fourier spectra showed that the α-helix content was decreased 13.78% with the addition of lysine. The ultraviolet absorption spectra and fluorescence spectra indicated that MW irradiation impacted the interactions between WG molecules more effectively than the water bath heating, promoting the denaturation and unfolding of the protein structure. In addition, scanning electron microscopy analysis showed that the incorporation of lysine promoted an ordered network structure formation of the protein, which enhanced the gel properties. This indicated that the zwitterion of l -lysine played a regulatory role in the aggregation of proteins in the MW field.