title: Gelation of globular proteins: effect of pH and ionic strength on the critical concentration for gel formation. A simple model and its application to beta-lactoglobulin heat-induced gelation.
abstract: The influence of pH (2-9) and ionic strength (0-0.14 M NaCl) on the sol-gel transition of beta-lactoglobulin was investigated in order to determine the critical gel concentration (C0). The concentration necessary to form a gel near the isoelectric pH remains approximately constant (approximately 1% w/v) independently of the ionic strength. At other pH values, the higher the ionic strength is, the lower the protein concentration must be to form a gel. A theoretical model to relate the effect of the intensity and the range of electrostatic interactions on the critical concentration (C0) is proposed and fits reasonably with the experimental results.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physico-Chimie des Macromolécules, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Nantes, France.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Renard
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lefebvre
mesh_terms: D004563:Electrochemistry; D005782:Gels; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007782:Lactoglobulins / Q000737:chemistry*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D009994:Osmolar Concentration
chemical_list: D005782:Gels; D007782:Lactoglobulins