Photo-Induced Modification of Food Protein Structure and Functionality

Light processing is nowadays recognised as an efficient technology to non-thermally inactivate a wide range of microorganisms to increase food safety. However, exposure of foods to light can provide further advantages associated with the development of photoreactions involving polymers. Proteins are major target polymers for photoreactions due to abundance of endogenous chromophores, ability to bind exogenous ones and rapid reactivity with other excited state species. As food structure and functions are the result of the status of food constituents, photo-induced structural modification of food proteins can lead to new product characteristics or improved functionalities. This review paper summarises recent developments of the application of light radiation to modify protein structure, inducing changes in their technological and biological functions.