β-Lactoglobulin Hydrolysis. 1. Peptide Composition and Functional Properties of Hydrolysates Obtained by the Action of Plasmin, Trypsin, and Staphylococcus aureus V8 Protease

beta-Lactoglobulin (betaLg) was subjected to limited hydrolysis by trypsin, plasmin, and endoproteinase from Staphylococcus aureus V8 (S.aur.V8) to degrees of hydrolysis (DH) of 1, 2, and 4%. The several hydrolysates had different peptide compositions (determined by reversed-phase HPLC and gel-permeation chromatography [GPC]). GPC under nondenaturing, denaturing, and denaturing plus reducing conditions showed that the peptides formed were linked by hydrophobic interactions or by disulfide bonds or were not linked at all. At very low protein concentration, some differences in emulsion-forming properties were observed: only the plasmin hydrolysates could form emulsions with a uniform particle-size distribution. The emulsions formed with S.aur.V8 hydrolysates had poor emulsion-stabilizing properties. Some hydrolysates showed increased foam-forming properties in comparison with the intact protein. All foams formed were stable. Overall, the plasmin hydrolysate (DH4) contained relatively much larger molecules and/or hydrophobic molecules. Many molecules were disulfide-linked peptides. This hydrolysate also had the best functional properties.