The potential application of the theory of branching processes to the association of milk protein

Abstract

SummaryThe coagulation of caseins is considered in the light of a polyfunctional condensation model for protein. This model was originally developed to explain aspects of the polymerization behaviour of small molecules, but it is shown here that it can be used to explain certain aspects of the polymerization of caseins, particularly the Ca2+-induced association of αs-casein and the heat-induced coagulation of casein in whole milk.