Forces involved in formation and maintenance of cow milk curd containing soybean 7S and 11S globulins

After the fermentation of cow milk by using lactic acid bacteria, rennet wa s added, and then 7S and 11S globulins were added to it. The curd was forme d at 30 degreesC for 12 hours, under static conditions. Effects of various reagents (NaCl, NaSCN, 2-mercaptoethanol and propylene glycol), which affec t forces involved in protein-protein interactions, on formation and solubil ity of the curd were studied. Among these reagent, NaSCN was the most effec tive for the inhibition and the solubilization of cow milk curd containing 7S and 11S globulins. No distinctive feature was observed in the compositio ns of proteins solubilized from the curd containing 7S and 11S globulins by those reagents. These results suggested that hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions were more important for the formation and the maintenance of the curd containing 7S and 11S globulins, than disulfide and hydrogen bands , and that all the constituent subunits of both globulins contribute evenly to the curd.