Heat Curing of Whey Protein Films

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Abstract
Heat curing of edible whey protein isolate (WPI) films was studied as a means of improving mechanical and water vapor barrier properties. Curing temperature and relative humidity (RH) effects on the rate of change of maximum tensile stress (TS), elongation at break (E), Young's Modulus (Ym), and water vapor permeability (WVP) were investigated. Cure time linearly affected TS and Ym, while influencing E and WVP exponentially. Increased cure temperature and reduced RH accelerated TS increase, E and Ym decrease, and increased improvement in WVP barrier properties. These data support the hypothesis that heat curing may elicit additional cross‐linking of protein, yielding increased TS and decreased E and WVP; however, further work is required to confirm this hypothesis.