Effect of temperature and/or pressure on lactoperoxidase activity in bovine milk and acid whey

At atmospheric pressure, inactivation of lactoperoxidase (LPO) in milk and whey was studied in a temperature range of 69-73 degrees C and followed first order kinetics. Temperature dependence of the first order inactivation rate constants could be accurately described by the Arrhenius equation, with an activation energy of 635.3 +/- 70.7 kJ/mol for raw bovine milk and 736.9 +/- 40.9 kJ/mol for diluted whey, indicating a very high temperature sensitivity. On the other hand, LPO is very pressure resistant and not or only slightly affected by treatment at pressure up to 700 MPa combined with temperatures between 20 and 65 degrees C. Both for thermal and pressure treatment, stability of LPO was higher in milk than in diluted whey. Besides, a very pronounced antagonistic effect between high temperature and pressure was observed, i.e. at 73 degrees C, a temperature where thermal inactivation at atmospheric pressure occurs rapidly, application of pressure up to 700 MPa exerted a protective effect. At atmospheric pressure, LPO in diluted whey was optimally active at a temperature of about 50 degrees C. At all temperatures studied (20-60 degrees C), LPO remained active during pressure treatment up to 300 MPa, although the activity was significantly reduced at pressures higher than 100 MPa. The optimal temperature was found to shift to lower values (30-40 degrees C) with increasing pressure.