Increasing awareness of balanced diet benefits is boosting the demand for high-protein food and beverages. Sports supplements are often preferred over traditional protein sources to meet the appropriate dietary intake since they are widely available on the market as stable ready-to-eat products. However, the protein components may vary depending on both sources and processing conditions. The protein fraction of five commercial sports supplements was characterized and compared with that of typical industrial ingredients, i.e., whey protein concentrates and isolates and whey powder. The capillary electrophoresis profiles and the amino acid patterns indicated that, in some cases, the protein was extensively glycosylated and the supplemented amino acids did not correspond to those declared on the label by manufacturers. The evaluation by confocal laser scanning microscopy evidenced the presence of large aggregates mainly enforced by covalent crosslinks. The obtained findings suggest that, beside composition figures, provisions regarding sports supplements should also consider quality aspects, and mandatory batch testing of these products would provide more reliable information to sport dieticians.

Focus on the Protein Fraction of Sports Nutrition Supplements / L. Pellegrino, J.A. Hogenboom, V. Rosi, M. Sindaco, S. Gerna, P. D'Incecco. - In: MOLECULES. - ISSN 1420-3049. - 27:11(2022 Jun), pp. 3487.1-3487.12. [10.3390/molecules27113487]

Focus on the Protein Fraction of Sports Nutrition Supplements

L. Pellegrino
Primo
;
J.A. Hogenboom;V. Rosi;S. Gerna;P. D'Incecco
Ultimo
2022

Abstract

Increasing awareness of balanced diet benefits is boosting the demand for high-protein food and beverages. Sports supplements are often preferred over traditional protein sources to meet the appropriate dietary intake since they are widely available on the market as stable ready-to-eat products. However, the protein components may vary depending on both sources and processing conditions. The protein fraction of five commercial sports supplements was characterized and compared with that of typical industrial ingredients, i.e., whey protein concentrates and isolates and whey powder. The capillary electrophoresis profiles and the amino acid patterns indicated that, in some cases, the protein was extensively glycosylated and the supplemented amino acids did not correspond to those declared on the label by manufacturers. The evaluation by confocal laser scanning microscopy evidenced the presence of large aggregates mainly enforced by covalent crosslinks. The obtained findings suggest that, beside composition figures, provisions regarding sports supplements should also consider quality aspects, and mandatory batch testing of these products would provide more reliable information to sport dieticians.
amino acids; capillary electrophoresis; confocal microscopy; protein aggregates; sport supplements; whey proteins
Settore AGR/15 - Scienze e Tecnologie Alimentari
giu-2022
28-mag-2022
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/949530
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