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6.3: The Role of Proteins in Foods - Cooking and Denaturation

  • Page ID
    6795
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    Learning Objectives

    • Learn about the role of proteins in food

    In addition to having many vital functions within the body, proteins perform different roles in our foods by adding certain functional qualities to them. Protein provides food with structure and texture and enables water retention. For example, proteins foam when agitated. (Picture whisking egg whites to make angel food cake. The foam bubbles are what give the angel food cake its airy texture.) Yogurt is another good example of proteins providing texture. Milk proteins called caseins coagulate, increasing yogurt’s thickness. Cooked proteins add some color and flavor to foods as the amino group binds with carbohydrates and produces a brown pigment and aroma. Eggs are between 10 and 15 percent protein by weight. Most cake recipes use eggs because the egg proteins help bind all the other ingredients together into a uniform cake batter. The proteins aggregate into a network during mixing and baking that gives cake structure.

    fig 6.3.1.jpg
    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Image by Annie Spratt on unspash.com / CC0.

    Protein Denaturation: Unraveling the Fold

    When a cake is baked, the proteins are denatured. Denaturation refers to the physical changes that take place in a protein exposed to abnormal conditions in the environment. Heat, acid, high salt concentrations, alcohol, and mechanical agitation can cause proteins to denature. When a protein denatures, its complicated folded structure unravels, and it becomes just a long strand of amino acids again. Weak chemical forces that hold tertiary and secondary protein structures together are broken when a protein is exposed to unnatural conditions. Because proteins’ function is dependent on their shape, denatured proteins are no longer functional. During cooking the applied heat causes proteins to vibrate. This destroys the weak bonds holding proteins in their complex shape (though this does not happen to the stronger peptide bonds). The unraveled protein strands then stick together, forming an aggregate (or network).

    fig 6.3.2.jpg
    Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): Protein Denaturation. When a protein is exposed to a different environment, such as increased temperature, it unfolds into a single strand of amino acids.

    Contributors and Attributions


    This page titled 6.3: The Role of Proteins in Foods - Cooking and Denaturation is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by The University of Hawaiʻi via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.