Abstract: The effect of thermostable ice-structuring proteins extracted from oat flour and Chinese Privet (Ligustrum vulgare) leaves separately added at 0.5% on the freeze-thaw stability of wheat starch gels was investigated. The syneresis, freezable water content, microstructure and texture of starch gels after going through different freeze-thaw cycles were analyzed using centrifugation, differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy and texture analyzer, respectively. The results showed that as freeze-thaw process happened repeatedly, the syneresis and freezable water content of starch gels increased obviously, the microstructure was damaged seriously, ice cell cavities became larger and uneven, the hardness increased markedly, and the springness decreased significantly. The introduction of TSISP extracted from oat flour and Chinese Privet (Ligustrum vulgare) leaves into wheat starch gels improved the freeze-thaw stability, which was indicated by a significant decrease in syneresis, freezable water content, the size of ice cell cavities and springiness and an increase in hardness.

Key words: wheat starch gels, freeze-thawing cycles, thermalstable ice-structuring protein, freezable water, microstructure；texture