Condensed tannins (CTs) isolated from white clover (<i>Trifolium repens</i>) flowers and big trefoil (<i>Lotus pedunculatus</i>) leaves were evaluated in precipitation studies with bovine serum albumin (BSA), lysozyme (LYS) and alfalfa leaf protein (ALF). The CTs were of similar compositions but differed in their mean degree of polymerization (mDP); medium CTs with mDP ~9 and large CTs with mDP ~18. At pH 6.5, large CTs exhibited similar protein precipitation behaviors and were significantly more effective precipitants than medium CTs. All CTs precipitated ALF more effectively than BSA or LYS. Medium CTs exhibited similar capacities to precipitate ALF, but showed small but significant differences in their capacity to precipitate BSA and LYS. Aggregation of CT-protein complexes may have contributed to ALF and BSA but not LYS precipitation. This study, one of the first to use CTs of confirmed high purity, demonstrates that mDP of CTs influences protein precipitation efficacy.

Impact by condensed tannins with different mean degrees of polymerization on protein precipitation

249th National Meeting (2015)

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