Comparison of Protein Preparation Procedures and Starch versus Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis for Examining Casein Degradation Products in Cheese

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Abstract
Casein degradation products in five vari- eties of cheese, ranging in age from one day to 13 months, were prepared for zonal eleetrophoresis in both starch and poly- acrylamide gels by oxalate solubilization, hexane extraction, and direct dispersion in alkaline urea buffer. No significant differences were observed in the electrophoretic patterns related to the method of protein preparation, and therefore, the simpler, direct dispersion pro- cedure is recmnmended. Starch and poly- acrylamide gel electrophoresis provided a similar number and location of protein zones for the different cheese varieties although the zones in starch gel electro- phoresis were more symmetrical and better defined. Starch gel e)eetrophoresis pro- vided better resolution of the z-casein re- gion zones than polyacrylamide gel electro- phoresis and also permitted simultaneous examination of cationic casein degradation products.