ABSTRACT
This chapter presents information on the terminology, structure and properties of milk proteins, their chromatographic and spectral characteristics and the resulting strategies for the determination and identification of milk proteins. Internet databases are recommended sources of information about sequences of proteins and nucleic acids encoding them, spatial structures, allergenicity and epitopes. The molecular properties of bovine milk proteins including genetic polymorphism are also described. Functional properties, that is, properties affecting behavior of milk proteins during technological processes, are also described. Structure and properties of proteins may also be changed during processing, for example, heat treatment. Sample preparation methods include selective precipitation of proteins and solid-phase extraction. Among analytical methods, attention is paid to reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography online with derivative ultraviolet spectroscopy. The last method is based on the differences of ultraviolet spectra depending on the differences in tryptophan-to-tyrosine ratio of particular proteins. Electrophoretic methods such as one- and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis as well as capillary electrophoresis are also included.
