ABSTRACT
This chapter is devoted to thermal denaturation and coagulation of food proteins and reviews the mechanisms of thermal denaturation and the factors that affect thermal denaturation as they relate to protein coagulation. The denaturation of food protein is a prerequisite in the exhibition of any functional property. The extent to which proteins unfold when denatured and the conformation they assume upon denaturation affect the functional and nutritional quality of foods during processing. It is important, therefore, that the interrelationship between protein denaturation and protein functionality be firmly established. The denaturation of egg albumin by urea proceeds in two stages: aggregation of the molecules, which makes the protein insoluble, and splitting of the molecules, which makes them soluble. Denaturation of food proteins has been defined as a process in which the spatial arrangement of polypeptide chains within the molecule is changed from that typical of the native protein to a more disordered arrangement.
