Monitoring Interactive Adsorption of the Milk Fat Globule Membrane and β-Lactoglobulin Using a Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation

Two constituents of cow's milk, the milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) and β-lactoglobulin (β-LG), are known to have significant biological activity. Although these compounds have health benefits individually, it is unclear how thermal processing influences their surface interactions. The objective of this work was to investigate the interactive adsorption of the MFGM and β-LG on a model surface via a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D). The study shows that the order of MFGM/β-LG addition had different adsorption and viscoelastic trends at higher experimental temperatures and that temperature had a greater impact on the MFGM and β-LG interactions when a β-LG layer was first established on the sensor followed by the MFGM. Introducing the MFGM to a system saturated with β-LG resulted in increased film viscoelasticity and adsorption as experimental temperatures increased from 25 to 80 °C. These observations provide context for future studies supporting how time and temperature induce structural changes and how the order of materials processed influences functionality and bioactivity.