It is well-known that the postprandial muscle protein synthetic response to protein ingestion is regulated on various levels, including dietary protein digestion and amino acid (AA) absorption, splanchnic AA retention, the availability of dietary protein-derived AA in the circulation, delivery of AA to the muscle, uptake of AA by the muscle, and intramuscular signaling. AA availability after consumption of dairy products is primarily determined by the rate of gastric emptying of milk proteins, which is mainly linked to coagulation of milk proteins in the stomach. Caseins form gastric coagula, which make their gastric emptying and subsequent postprandial aminoacidemia notably slower than that of whey proteins. Only recently, the role of processing, food structure, preservation and matrix on coagulation herein has been getting attention. In this review we describe various processes, that affect gastric coagulation of caseins and therewith control gastric emptying, such as the conversion to caseinate, heat treatment in the presence of whey proteins, conversion to stirred yoghurt and enzymatic hydrolysis. Modulating product characteristics by processing can be very useful to steer the gastric behavior of protein, and the subsequent digestion and AA absorption and muscle anabolic response to maintain or increase muscle mass.
Keywords: Aminoacidemia; dairy; digestion; postprandial protein handling.