Characterization of tryptic casein phosphopeptides prepared under industrially relevant conditions

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Abstract
Anticariogenic casein phosphopeptides (ACPP) contain the cluster sequence ‐Ser(P)–Ser(P)–Ser(P)–Glu–Glu‐ and have commercial potential as toothpaste, mouthwash, and food additives for the prevention of dental caries. In an approach to develop a commercial‐scale process for the production of ACPP we have comprehensively characterized casein phosphopeptides (CPP) produced under industrially relevant conditions. Sodium caseinate (10% w/v) was hydrolyzed by Novo trypsin (commercial grade) at 50°C for 2 h and CPP were purified from the acid clarified hydrolysate by a single‐step selective precipitation procedure involving Ca2+ (20 mol/mol casein) and ethanol (50% v/v) at pH 4.6 or 8.0. The individual peptides of the CPP preparations were purified by reversed‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and then identified by amino acid composition and sequence analyses. The yield of the pH 8.0 precipitate (13.85 ± 0.48 wt % of the caseinate) was slightly higher than that of the pH 4.6 precipitate (11.04 ± 0.30 wt % of the caseinate). However, the pH 4.6 precipitate contained predominantly (86.4 mol %) ACPP cluster peptides with small amounts of the diphosphorylated peptides (13.6 mol %), αs1(43–58) and αs2(126–136). In the pH 8.0 precipitate the cluster peptides represented a smaller proportion of the total peptides (61.9 mol %) due to increased recoveries of the diphosphorylated peptides (24.4 mol %) as well as the additional recovery of the monophosphorylated peptide β(33–48) (13.7 mol %) indicating increased cross‐linking by Ca2+ at the higher pH. The recovery of the ACPP from the original caseinate was similar for both the pH 4.6 and 8.0 precipitates. Slight chymotryptic activity was detected in the industrial‐grade enzyme, resulting in minor truncation of some peptides. Also some deamidation and methionine oxidation of one peptide, αs1(59–79), were detected. In conclusion, ACPP can be produced under industrially relevant conditions with only minor modifications such as slight truncation, deamidation, and methionine oxidation. However, in order to prepare casein phosphopeptides predominantly containing the cluster sequence ‐Ser(P)–Ser(P)–Ser(P)–Glu–Glu‐, the single‐step selective precipitation with Ca2+/ethanol should be performed at pH 4.6 rather than pH 8.0. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.