Circular dichroism and infrared spectroscopic characterization of secondary structure components of protein Z during mashing and boiling processes

Abstract In beer brewing, protein Z is hypothesized to stabilize beer foam. However, few investigations have revealed the relationship between conformational alterations to protein Z during the brewing process and beer foam. In this report, protein Z from sweet wort was isolated during mashing and boiling processes. Circular dichroism (CD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to monitor the structural characteristics of protein Z. The results showed that the α-helix and β-sheet content decreased, whereas the content of β-turn and random coil increased. The complex environment rich in polysaccharides may facilitate conformational alterations and modifications to protein Z. Additionally, the formation of extended structural features to protein Z provides access to reactive amino acid side chains that can undergo modifications and the exposure of hydrophobic core regions of the protein. Analyzing structural transformations should provide a deeper understanding of the mechanism of protein Z on maintaining beer foam.