Physicochemical and sensory characteristics of whey protein hydrolysates generated at different total solids levels

peer-reviewedWhey protein hydrolysates were generated at different total solids (TS) levels (50–300 g/l) using the commercially available proteolytic preparation DebitraseTM HYW20, while enzyme to substrate ratio, pH and temperature were maintained constant. Hydrolysis proceeded at a faster rate at lower TS reaching a degree of hydrolysis (DH) of 16.6% at 300 g TS/l, compared with a DH of 22.7% at 50 g TS/l after 6 h hydrolysis. The slower breakdown of intact whey proteins at high TS was quantified by gel-permeation HPLC. Reversed-phase (RP) HPLC of hydrolysate samples of equivalent DH (y15%) generated at different TS levels indicated that certain hydrophobic peptide peaks were present at higher levels in hydrolysates generated at low TS. Sensory evaluation showed that hydrolysates with equivalent DH values were significantly (P