Conformational and functional changes from deamidation of wheat gluten with electrochemical treatment

Background In this paper, wheat gluten (WG) was modified by electrochemical deamidation. The effects of electrochemical treatment time on the conformation and functional properties of WG and its mechanism were studied. Results Wheat gluten demonstrated a maximum deamidation of 50.94%. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) showed a decrease in α‐helix and β‐sheets and an increase in β‐turns and random coils, indicating that the secondary structure of WG became looser and more disordered with increased molecular flexibility. Electrochemical deamidation significantly increased the net charge and solubility of WG, the emulsifying activity index (EAI) increased from 8.53 to 15.66 m2 g−1, the foaming capacity (FC) increased from 4.55 to 13.72 cm3, and the water‐holding capacity (WHC) and oil‐holding capacity (OHC) reached maximum levels of 8.42 g g−1 and 7.45 g g−1, respectively, at 90 min. Conclusion Electrochemical deamidation appears to be a useful technique to improve the processing characteristics of WG. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.