Abstract
Fungal hydrophobin is a family of low molecular weight proteins consisting of four disulfide bridges and an extraordinary hydrophobic patch. The hydrophobic patch of hydrophobins and the molecules of gaseous CO 2 may interact together and form the stable CO 2-nanobubbles covered by an elastic membrane in carbonated beverages. The nanobubbles provide the required energy to provoke primary gushing. Due to the hydrophobicity of hydrophobin, this protein is used as a biosurfactant, foaming agent or encapsulating agent in food products and medicine formulations. Increasing demands for using of hydrophobins led to a challenge regarding production and purification of this product. However, the main issue to use hydrophobin in the industry is the regulatory affairs: yet there is no approved legislation for using hydrophobin in food and beverages. To comply with the legislation, establishing a consistent method for obtaining pure hydrophobins is necessary. Currently, few research teams in Europe are focusing on different aspects of hydrophobins. In this paper, an up-to-date collection of highlights from those special groups about the bio-chemical and physicochemical characteristics of hydrophobins have been studied. The recent advances of those groups concerning the production and purification, positive applications and negative function of hydrophobin are also summarised.
| Original language | English (Ireland) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 243-255 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Protein Journal |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 17 Aug 2015 |