The aim of this research was phenolics and protein characterization and antioxidant properties evaluation of skimmed thermally treated goat's milk powder enriched with different concentration of grape pomace seed extract (SE). The dominant phenolics in SE were phenolic acids, flavan-3-ols and procyanidins. Different electrophoretic techniques together with UHPLC-MS/MS analysis revealed the presence of phenolics-protein interactions in the samples, mainly procyanidins with whey protein/caseins complexes. Addition of SE into thermally treated goat's milk significantly improved antioxidant properties of goat's milk such as TAC, FRP, DPPH• and ABTS•+ scavenging activity. Gallic acid, catechin, and procyanidins mostly contributed to these activities. The schematic representation of phenolics-casein micelles interactions in thermally treated goat's milk enriched with SE was given. The addition of SE into thermally treated goat's milk can be a promising strategy in food waste recovery and to enhance the beneficial health effects of goat's milk-based functional foods.
Keywords: grape pomace seed; milk protein; phenolics; phenolic–protein interactions; skimmed goat’s milk.