Behind the veil: a multidisciplinary discussion on protein-microwave interactions.

The research community in the food domain has shown interest in microwave-induced changes in the structure and functional properties of food proteins since the 1980s. Research studies published thus far on this topic prove that microwave energy can notably change structural features or improve the physicochemical properties of proteins. Some of these studies considered this to be caused by the unique microwave effects. In this review, we first summarize the most recent advances and critically analyze the factors that have been overlooked during the microwave heating of food proteins. Some of the key possibilities found in biomacromolecule-microwave interactions have also been discussed based on cross-disciplinary studies. We offer opinions as to better control the microwave processing of protein-based foods. Future work should focus on the interactions between the food components in such complex foodstuffs and their competitive absorption of microwave energy. All rights reserved, Elsevier.