Synthesis and Characterization of Nanoparticles and Nanofibers from Whey Protein Concentrate.

PAULA MURATORI; MARTHA INES BURGOS; MARÍA ANGÉLICA PERILLO

La Plata

Congreso; Reunión de Sociedad Argentina de Biofìsica; 2018

Sociedad Argentina de Biofìsica

Waste from the dairy industry produce a significant environmental impact in the region. We propose the reuse of one of the most abundant wastes, whey serum, rich in proteins, for the synthesis of biomaterials with biotechnological interest. Nanoparticles (Nps) synthesized from whey proteins concentrate (WPC) are of interest to be used as nano-transporters of molecules of low solubility or stability and are characterized as biocompatible and biodegradable. Moreover, employing the same whey proteins self-aggregated into fibrilar nano-structures (Nfs), we proposed to synthesize protein films with various biotechnological applications. Here we have applied different protocols (with and without SDS, Urea, BME as a reducing agent, different incubation times (IT) at 85°C, desalting), and obtained Nps with WPC desalted in the absence of SDS and 1 hour IT. The NPs observed in TEM images were round and the diameters ranged between 20 and 150 nm, and the median was 44 nm. Nfs were obtained with desalted WPC in the presence of 1% SDS and 15 minutes IT. TEM images showed that the Nfs were mainly a supercoiled structure of 50 nm of thickness and 0.8 microm length approximately. Further characterization of the nanostructures was performed by analytical centrifugation, dynamic light scattering and N2 BET isotherms. This information will be usefull for the setup of drug adsorption/desorption experiments in a next research step.