5 Nonconventional Technologies Review 2014 Romanian Association of Nonconventional Technologies Romania, June, 2014 APPLICATION OF LIGHT DISPERSION METHOD TO DETERMINE ALBUMEN DENATURATION DEGREE UNDER HIGH PRESSURE TREATMENT Valery Sukmanov 1 , Sergii Sokolov 1 , Mykola Sevatorov 1 , Dumitru Mnerie 2 1 Donetsk National University of Economics and Trade named after Mykhailo Tugan-Baranovsky, sevatorov@gmail.com 2 POLITEHNICA University of Timisoara, dumitru_mnerie@yahoo.com ABSTRACT: The use of high pressure (more than 700MPa) technology in the food industry is nonconventional. Albumen molecule size detection by means of light scattering has been considered, experimental procedure and technique and albumen particle size distribution on exposure to various fixed pressures at the ambient temperature has been provided. The average diameter of albumen particles and its dependence on the pressure have been defined. KEY WORDS: High pressure, optical chamber, albumen, dispersed composition 1. INTRODUCTION The albumen denaturation process is of great importance for fundamental and applied science. By studying the denaturation phenomenon, one is able to trace a connection between the albumen structure and stability, and discover critical factors of such phenomenon. Studying the albumen molecule denaturation (unfolding) mechanism is of interest for explaining the albumen folding mechanisms as well. As far as food technologies are concerned, the importance of the albumen denaturation study is linked to the necessity to raise protein-containing product stability during their processing using operational procedures. The calorimetry is one of the main approaches to protein heat denaturation study at the barometric pressure, allowing for direct measuring of thermo- dynamic protein performance and therefore studying the energy of processes associated with protein molecule trans-formation. Optic and spectral techniques may also be applied to study in-process protein heat denaturation dynamics. However, as long as high hydrostatic pressures are used in the food industry, special-purpose equipment is required for the above procedures. 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS For this application the use of high pressure (more than 700 MPa) is an unconventional procedure. An automated high-pressure plant (Sukmanov, Sokolov, Debelyi & Bukin, 2005) has been developed and manufactured based on an optic high-pressure chamber that can be set at operating temperatures from 5 0 С to 95 0 C and pressures up to 1 GPa to apply spectral and optic approaches to measuring characteristics of foodstuff being processed under high hydrostatic pressures. The albumen was selected as a subject of the study. PES- 3 liquid bearing the required hygroscopic property and continuous transmission spectrum which is highly independent of the pressure in the visible wavelength range from 400 to 750 nm was used as a pressure-carrying medium to the samples. The prepared studied sample was put in a tailor-made cuvette which is transparent in the visible spectral range. (Sukmanov, Sokolov, Bukin, Dekan & Sevatorov, 2007). Sample layer thickness is predetermined by flour-plastic gasket ring thickness. The studied product layer is positioned between plane-parallel plastic windows coming into direct contact with the hydraulic fluid the last providing for indirect transfer of the generated hydraulic pressure of the sample from the hydraulic fluid through the windows. The plastic windows are secured with a ring window fixture to avoid sample offset from the cuvette axis. All cuvette parts are assembled in a metallic casing. The cuvette assembly is loaded together with the studied sample in the active chamber capacity and secured on a protective sensor cover which is heavily fastened to the chamber casing. There is no sample cuvette offset from the optic axis of the chamber windows in the process of measurements. Chamber windows are made of mono-crystal NaCl. They are protected with plane-parallel sapphire crystal wafers to avoid cracking of external chamber window surfaces due to temperature change and on exposure to the ambient environment.