Abstract: In order to develop a rapid and efficient method for the industrial production of rice protein-glucose conjugates, rice protein was extruded and then subjected to the Maillard reaction with glucose. Herein, rice protein was extruded at different temperatures (80, 90, 100, 110, 120 and 130 ℃) and then conjugated with glucose for 30 minutes at pH 10.5. We analyzed the effect of different extrusion temperatures on the functional properties (solubility, emulsification activity index (EAI) and emulsion stability index (ESI)) and structural properties of extruded rice protein and glucose (ERPG) conjugates and characterized ERPG conjugates using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Compared to native rice protein and glucose (NRPG) conjugate, the degree of glycosylation (DG) of ERPG conjugate prepared with rice protein extruded at 90 ℃ was the highest, and the solubility of ERPG conjugates prepared with rice protein extruded at 90–120 ℃ decreased. The EAI, ESI and surface hydrophobicity of ERPG conjugates prepared with rice protein extruded at 80–90 ℃ increased, while those of ERPG conjugates prepared with rice protein extruded at 100–130 ℃ slowly decreased. The FTIR results showed that ERPG conjugate had higher contents of α-helix, β-turn and random coil and a lower content of β-sheet than NRPG. The SDS-PAGE indicated that the protein was aggregated into larger particles by extrusion. Under SEM, ERPG conjugates exhibited more disordered structure with irregular fragments.

Key words: extrusion; rice protein; glucose; glycation; functional properties; structural properties