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* Center for Advanced Food Studies, Department of Dairy and Food Science, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Rolighedsvej 30, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
Chr. Hansen A/S, Boege Alle 10-12, DK-2970 Hoersholm, Denmark
| ABSTRACT |
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Stirring affected the yogurt made with exopolysaccharide differently from yogurt without exopolysaccharide, as it did not exhibit immediate syneresis, although the structural breakdown was increased. The shear-induced microstructure in a yogurt made with exopolysaccharide-producing culture was shown to consist of compartmentalized protein aggregates between channels containing exopolysaccharide, hindering syneresis as well as the buildup of structure after stirring.
Key Words: yogurt exopolysaccharides rheology confocal laser scanning microscopy
Abbreviation key:
= the phase angle, where tan (
) = G''/G',
A = % difference in area under the curves for the upward and downward shear rate sweep, Aup = area under the shear stress vs. shear rate curve at increasing shear rates (upward flow curve), CLSM = confocal laser scanning microscopy, EPS = exopolysaccharide, EPS+ = exopolysaccharide-producing bacterial strain, EPS- = bacterial strain not producing exopolysaccharide, G' = the elastic modulus, G'' = the viscous modulus
| INTRODUCTION |
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No relation has been established between the amount of EPS produced and the physical properties of fermented milk, but EPS produced by different strains vary significantly in the structural characteristics. Factors affecting the function of EPS in fermented milk include monosaccharide composition, charge, linkage types, branching, molecular weight, and the ability to interact with milk protein (Kleerebezem et al., 1999; Duboc and Mollet, 2001; Ruas-Madiedo et al., 2002).
Two fundamental problems arise when studying the function of EPS in fermented milks: 1) it is difficult to obtain a control culture that possesses similar characteristics, aside from production of EPS, and 2) conventional scanning electron microscopy is not suitable for observing EPS, which is highly hydrated (Hassan et al., 2002). In the current study we have overcome the first of these problems by using an EPS-producing mother strain (EPS+) and its non-EPS-producing genetic variant (EPS-). Aside from lacking the ability to produce EPS, the EPS- variant had all the characteristics of the mother strain. The microstructure of the yogurt was investigated using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), which allows visualization of fully hydrated specimens, thus avoiding the artifacts associated with conventional scanning electron microscopy (Hassan et al., 2002). Using these tools, our objective was to gain understanding of the role of EPS in yogurt by relating microstructure of yogurts made with EPS+ and EPS- cultures to their rheological properties.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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Experimental Design
Each experimental block consisted of four yogurts made from the same batch of reconstituted skim milk and fermented with the four culture combinations (Table 1
). This block structure was replicated three times.
Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy
The microstructure of the protein network in the fermented milk was observed using CLSM in the reflectance mode as described by Hassan et al. (1995). A small piece of each of the unstirred and stirred (gently stirred by spoon 10 times) samples were carefully transferred to chambered coverglasses (Nalge Nunc International Corp., Naperville, IL) and observed using a Leica TCS SP confocal laser scanning system (Leica Microsystems, Heidelberg, Germany) fitted with an inverted Leica DM IRBE microscope and an Ar/Kr laser. Wheat germ agglutinin conjugated with Alexa flour 488 (Molecular Probes Inc., Eugene, OR) was used to label EPS according to the method developed by Hassan et al. (2002). The working solution of the dye was prepared by diluting the stock solution (1 mg of the dye in 1 ml of phosphate buffer at pH 6.8) to 1: 5 with fermented milk whey. Some drops of the dye were added to an undisturbed fermented milk sample and left for 1 h at 5°C to allow diffusion. Another sample was gently stirred after adding the dye. An excitation wavelength of 488 nm was used.
Rheological Measurements
Fermented milk samples were gently stirred 10 times by spoon prior to rheological analysis. Rheological measurements were done in triplicate on all samples.
Flow curves were obtained using a Bohlin VOR Rheometer (Bohlin Ltd., Cirencester, UK) fitted with a Couette measuring geometry (25 mm diameter). The shear rate was varied from 0.00185 to 116 s-1, and the shear stress was recorded at increasing shear rates (upward flow curve) followed by decreasing shear rates (downward flow curve). The temperature was maintained at 5°C, and continuous shear was applied with a delay time of 5 s between measurements at a given shear rate.
The Herschel-Bulkley model proved to give significantly better fits to the upward flow curves (results not shown) than did the power law, the Casson or the QRS-models (Skriver et al., 1993) and was therefore chosen to model flow behavior:
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where
= shear stress, K = consistency index, n = flow behavior index,
= shear rate, and
0 = yield stress.
In addition, the area under the upward flow curve (Aup) and the percentage difference in area under the upward flow curve and the downward flow curve (
A) were determined using an in-house program written in MathCad 2000 (Mathsoft, 1999).
A small strain oscillation frequency sweep (Rao, 1999) was also performed on the samples at frequencies ranging from 0.01 to 9 Hz. The temperature was 5°C and the applied strain 0.00412 (determined by a strain sweep to be within the linear viscoelastic range). The elastic modulus (G'), the viscous modulus (G'') and the phase angle (
, where tan (
) = G''/G') were recorded as functions of frequency. The slope of log-log plots of moduli vs. frequency was determined using an in-house program written in Mathcad 2000.
Statistical Analysis
Data preprocessing was done using in-house programs written in Mathcad 2000. ANOVA was done with SAS version 8 (2001). Replication was used as a block effect.
| RESULTS |
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A, indicating that more structural breakdown during shearing took place. The only significant difference found between the two EPS+ (B and D) or EPS- (A and C) cultures was that
A was higher for D than for B.
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values than the corresponding yogurt made usingEPS-. Plotting log (G') or log (G'') vs. log (frequency) gave reasonable straight lines for yogurt made with both types of cultures (Figure 2
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| DISCUSSION |
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Casein micelles have been observed to become mutually attractive when EPS was added to skim milk due to depletion interaction induced by the EPS (Tuinier et al., 1999). Phase-separation caused by a similar depletion-interaction has also been seen when EPS was added to aggregated whey protein particles (Tuinier et al., 2000). These experiments were done near neutral pH, and the EPS used did not interact with the proteins. In these conditions the EPS can, therefore, be assumed to be excluded from the surface of the protein particles, resulting in a depletion layer, where the osmotic pressure generated by the EPS is smaller than in the bulk. When two protein particles meet as a result of Brownian motion, they share this depleted volume, hence increasing the volume available for the EPS and decreasing the free energy of the system. The system thus has an entropic driving force towards phase separation (de Kruif and Tuinier, 2001).
Although the above experiments were done near neutral pH, a similar type of interaction can be expected at pH 4.3 because EPS is generally not highly charged (Ruas-Madiedo et al., 2002). The protein particles present in the heat-treated milk used in our experiment consist of CN micelles with associated whey protein. If we assume incompatibility between these particles and the EPS produced by the bacteria during the fermentation, denser and larger protein aggregates can be expected to appear prior to the gel point than if EPS was not present, and the EPS can be assumed to be concentrated in the continuous phase as aggregation proceeds. The final protein network in the yogurt can, therefore, be expected to be more densely aggregated in yogurt made with EPS+, which indeed was the case (Figure 3c
, e). Further, Hassan et al. (2001a) reported that production of EPS caused gelation to occur at higher pH values. This might allow for more rearrangement to take place after the gel point, again favoring the formation of more densely aggregated structures (Walstra, 1993).
When stirring the yogurts, we visually observed that EPS+ samples quickly and easily became homogeneous, whereas samples made using EPS- after identical stirring exhibited syneresis, which led to a macroscopically granular appearance. A likely reason why EPS+ samples (Figure 3c
, g) broke down more easily than EPS- samples (Figure 3a
, e) is that there are fewer protein-protein interactions at the critical sites (where the strands are thinnest) in the network to overcome.
When the pores in the original, unsheared network contain EPS, a result of shearing will be to concentrate the EPS in the continuous liquid phase between the protein aggregates (Figure 3
). We have observed earlier (Hassan et al., 2002) that the EPS appears to collect in larger strands during stirring. This also seems to be the case in the present study and is consistent with incompatibility between EPS and protein. When sheared, the samples made using EPS+ will contain a continuous phase rich in EPS surrounding the protein aggregates and, hence, will tend to prevent syneresis through increased viscosity, as was observed. Due to incompatibility, the EPS in the continuous phase can be expected to decrease interactions between the protein aggregates.
We did not find a yield stress in yogurts made using EPS+. Substantially lower yield stress in yogurt made using EPS+ was found by Skriver et al. (1993), and Hassan et al. (1996) notes that the use of a ropy strain resulted in yogurt with a lower value for yield stress than that of yogurt made with unencapsulated nonropy strains. The absence (or decrease) of the yield stress in yogurt made with EPS+ can be explained by the decreased possibility of interactions between the protein aggregates during flow, due to the presence of EPS in the continuous phase surrounding the aggregates. This most probably also contributed to the lower values of G' and G'' in yogurts made with EPS+, as compared those in yogurts made with EPS- (Table 3
), which was also noted by Skriver (1995). Lucey et al. (1997, 1998) suggested that extensive particle rearrangement during structure formation results in dense clusters of aggregates and lower G' values. Such an effect may also have been at work here.
The presence of EPS channels in the serum will confer a more polymer-like rheological behavior to the continuous phase, thus resulting in increased consistency index, more deviation from Newtonian behavior, and increased viscosity in the yogurt (Table 2
). Also the difference in protein network structure between EPS+ and EPS- samples will contribute to differences in flow behavior. Presence of EPS reduced G'' relatively more than G' (Figure 2
), and therefore, EPS+ yogurts appeared more elastic in nature than EPS- yogurts, as indicated by smaller values for
and the slope of log-log plots of moduli vs. frequency (Table 3
).
The increased structural breakdown (as indicated by Aup and
A, Table 2
) in yogurt when EPS is present can be explained by the difficulty for the protein aggregates to reform into a coherent network structure after shearing due to the compartmentalization of the aggregates caused by the presence of EPS in channels in the continuous phase.
Generally the difference in rheological behavior microstructure between the mutant EPS+/EPS- pair (B/C) was similar to the difference between the nonmutant pair (D/A), suggesting that, even in the case of the non-mutant pair, the major part of the difference in rheological behavior and in microstructure of the investigated yogurts was caused by the presence (or absence) of EPS. This adds support to the results of prior studies on the effects of EPS, in which mutant pairs identical in all aspects except EPS were not available.
| CONCLUSIONS |
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Stirring affects yogurt made with EPS+ differently than yogurt made with EPS-, as it does not induce immediate syneresis. The shear-induced microstructure in a yogurt made with EPS+ was shown to consist of compartmentalized protein aggregates between channels containing EPS. These EPS containing channels cause yogurt made with EPS+ to have lower moduli (G', G'') and yield stress, and they hindered syneresis and buildup of structure after stirring. The increased consistency index and deviation from Newtonian flow of stirred yogurt may also be influenced by the effects of incompatibility on structure but are probably affected directly by the rheological properties of the EPS as well.
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
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| FOOTNOTES |
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Corresponding author: K. B. Qvist; e-mail:
kbq{at}kvl.dk.
Received for publication August 14, 2002. Accepted for publication December 23, 2002.
| REFERENCES |
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-lactone. Food Res. Int. 31:147155.
-lactone. 2. Syneresis, permeability and microstructural properties. Int. Dairy J. 7:389397.
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