Purpose: To investigate the effects of ozone treatment on chemical and physical properties of wheat
(
Triticum aestivum
L.) gluten, glutenin and gliadin.
Methods: Wheat proteins isolated from wheat flour were treated with ozone gas. The physical and
chemical properties of gluten proteins were investigated after treatment with ozone gas, with 5 g/h
produced as a function of time (0, 30, and 60 min) in the study. To check whether the process of
ozonation promoted changes in the quality of gluten proteins, sulfhydryl groups (SH), differential
scanning calorimetry (DSC), secondary structure, SDS-PAGE, and rheology analyses were performed.
Results: Sulfhydryl group contents of wheat proteins ranged from 1.1 to 7.12 μmol/g. Sulfhydryl group
content for all ozonated proteins was significantly lower than that of the control samples. Gluten proteins
showed reduced SDS-PAGE band intensities of both high (HMW) gluten and glutenin subunits with
increasing ozone gas treatment. The denaturation temperatures (Td) of ozonated gluten proteins were
higher (99.80–106.79 °C) and the enthalpies of the ozonated gluten proteins were lower than those of
the control samples. The storage moduli (G') and loss moduli (G”) of gluten and glutenin tended to
increase from 7.84 to 10.20 KPa and 43.19 to 48.28 KPa, and from 3.33 to 4.06 KPa and 20.74 to
22.56 KPa, respectively, as ozone exposure increased from 0 to 30 min.
Conclusion: Ozone gas can oxidize wheat proteins. Exposing wheat proteins to ozone gas for an
extended time (60 min) deteriorated wheat protein quality.
