How Does Dairy Gel Structure Regulate Amino Acid Bioavailability?

This work investigates the impact of gelation process on milk protein digestion and amino acid release using acid and rennet gels produced from heat-treated skim milk. Both gels share similar pore sizes (0.8 µm) and rheological properties. In mini-pigs equipped with duodenal, jejunal and blood catheters, researchers measured gastric residence time, peptide counts in the intestinal lumen over seven hours and plasma amino acid profiles. Acid gels showed shorter gastric retention, higher peptide release (4349 vs 1443 peptides), and an early peak of essential amino acids in plasma, while rennet gels led to longer retention, casein aggregation, syneresis-driven whey expulsion, and increased satiety.