Lecture 8 - Protein analysis Flashcards
why do we analyze for protein content in food?
- nutritional quality
- functional properties
- economic consideration
defne a protein
complex organic compound that consists of amino acids linked by polypeptide bonds
what characteristics of proteins are useful for their detection?
- determination of N
- peptide bonds
- aromatic amino acids
- dye-bind capacity
- UV absorption of proteins
write the equation for % crude protein
% Crude protein = total (N) x conversion factor
what is total N comprised of?
non-protein nitrogen + protein nitrogen
what are examples of non-protein nitrogens?
- free amino acids
- peptides
- some phospholipids
- amino sugar
- nucleic acids
- urea
- nitrates
- nitrites
true or false: proximate analysis measures the crude protein content and not the true protein content
true
again, give the equations for crude protein and total nitrogen
% crude protein = total (N) x conversion factor
total nitrogen = true protein nitrogen + non-protein nitrogen
what’s a conversion factor (crude protein)?
nitrogen-to-protein conversion factor that assumes that 1 Kg of plant or animal proteins contain a specific amount of N
what methods can be used to determine crude protein?
1) Kjeldahl (N measured as ammonia NH3)
2) Dumas (N measured as molecular N2)
describe the 2 steps of the Kjeldahl method
1) digestion (conversion of all N to NH3)
2) measurement of NH3 (distillation & titration, colorimetric, ammonium electrode)
what reagents are required during the digestion, neutralization, distillation, and titration steps of the Kjeldahl method?
Digestion - sulfuric acid - K2SO4 - catalyst Neutralization & Distillation - NaOH - Sodium thiosulfate (Na2S2O3) - distillation in boric acid solution Titration - HCl
what’s the purpose of H2SO4 in Kjeldahl method?
- oxidizes organic matter and combines with NH4+ to form nonvolatile ammonium sulfate (NH4)2SO4, which is stable in acid solution
- C and H elements converted to CO2 and H2O
at what temperature is the digestion step of the Kjeldahl method done? how long?
350-400C; 25 min- 2h
true or false: the digestion step of the Kjeldahl method releases toxic gases
true
sample (N) + conc. H2SO4 –>?
CO2, NH4, SO4, H2O
then NH4 reacts with H2SO4 to create a stable ammonium salt
what does the catalyst do in the Kjeldahl method? examples?
serves as a O carrier in oxidation process to speed up oxidation
- Mercury oxide (HgO)
- Selenium
- Copper
why is K2SO4 added during the digestion step of the Kjeldahl method?
increases boiling point of H2SO4 from 290 to where it can function
describe the distillation step of the Kjeldahl method
- ammonium salt (NH4)2SO4 is distilled with NaOH to increased the pH of solution to 9.2. this forms NH4OH + Na2SO4
- NH4OH breaks down into NH3 and H2O in the presence of heat
- ammonia is distilled into boric acid solution (H3BO3) to produce NH4 and H2BO3- (borate anion)
- sodium thiosulfate (Na2S2O3) is added to break NH4+ metal complexes
describe the titration step of the Kjeldahl method
borate anions are titrated with dilute HCL to form H3BO3
what is the molar ratio of HCl and NH3? what method am I talking about?
1:1. this is the Kjeldahl method.
list some colorimetric methods of determining ammonium
NH4 can form colored compounds with different reagents:
Nessler reaction: forms red-orange. measured at 440 nm
Berthelot Reaction: forms blue. measured at 630 nm
Ammonium ions can be measured by ISE. what’s ISE stand for?
Ion Selective Electrode.
what do ISEs measure?
ion activity, which depends on ionic strength.
why aren’t ISEs used that much in determining NH3?
low reliability due to interfering ion activity and it’s expensive
list advantages of the Kjeldahl method
- internationally accepted by AOAC
- used as standard method for comparison against all other methods
- high precision and good reproducibility