This study investigated the effect of whey protein isolate (WPI) and phenolic copigments on the color and anthocyanin stability of mulberry anthocyanin extract (MAE) subjected to heat treatment (80℃/120 min) at pH 3.6. Results showed that four phenolic compounds, including gallic acid, ferulic acid, (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), and rutin, significantly affected the color enhancement of MAE solution, among which the strongest copigmentation effect on MAE was observed for rutin at 0.08-0.8 mg/ml. WPI (0.16 mg/ml) and rutin (0.8 mg/ml) reduced the thermal degradation rate of total anthocyanins by 27.1% and 50%, respectively. WPI-MAE-rutin ternary mixtures improved the color stability of MAE solution and decreased the anthocyanin's thermal degradation rate by 18.1% and 10.6%, respectively, compared with the corresponding binary systems (MAE-WPI and MAE-rutin). The results implied the MAE-WPI-rutin had a better protective effect on the thermal stability of MAE than the binary systems.
Keywords: Mulberry anthocyanin extract; Phenolic copigment; Ternary mixture; Thermal stability; Whey protein isolate.
Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.