**2.7. Determination of the constant of the final stage of protein aggregation**

To determine the aggregating properties of proteins, a sample of the product 1.0 g with an accuracy of ±0.001g was suspended in 10 cm3 of a 0.05 mole/ dm3 solution of CH3 COOH for 1 h on a mechanical shaker. The solution was then centrifuged for 15 min at 3000 g, the centrifugate was filtered and the Lowry protein was determined in the filtrate. The solution was diluted with 0.05 mol/dm3 acetic acid to a concentration of 0.02% protein. To 1.3 cm3 of the protein solution, 1.3 cm3 of 0.2 mol/dm3 phosphate buffer containing 2 mol/dm<sup>3</sup> NaCl (pH 5.6) was added to the spectrophotometer cuvette. Then, after 10 min at a wavelength of 350 nm, the optical density (turbidity) of the solution was measured. The constant of the final stage of aggregation (τ10/C) was calculated as the ratio of turbidity (τ) to protein concentration (C) [32].

Analyses were carried out in 3–5 replicates, the results were represented as arithmetic means. To determine the confidence interval of the average arithmetic result, the Student's test was used at the significance level *p* = 0.05. The statistical processing of the results was carried out with the programs Statistica 6.0 and Mathematica 5.2.
