Investigating different casein micelle structures and gel structures formed by recombinant caseins

This proposal describes a new approach to making animal-free dairy products by producing caseins from microorganisms. In this study, we produced recombinant caseins using microbial expression systems and assembled them into casein micelle structure. These casein micelles are then used to create enzyme-induced or acid-induced gels. It is essential to understand the structure of both casein micelles and the gel formed by casein micelles to better understand their behavior. Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) has been shown to be a suitable method for studying the internal structure of casein micelles. However, after acid or enzyme-induced gelation, the aggregated structures become too large for SANS. Spin-echo small-angle neutron scattering (SESANS) has proven to be a powerful tool for investigating the structure of milk gels. Therefore, we aim to apply both SANS and SESANS to analyze casein micelles formed by recombinant caseins and to investigate the structure of the gels derived from them.