Abstract: In this study, the effect of γ-polyglutamic acid and NaCl on gelation properties of minced chicken breast meat was investigated. The results showed that the addition of 0.9‰ γ-polyglutamic acid alone could significantly reduce the cooking loss rate, increase the gel strength and water-holding capacity, and significantly improve the hardness, springiness, chewiness and cohesiveness of chicken meat gels, but it had little effect on the whiteness of the gels. The effect of γ-polyglutamic acid on gelation properties of chicken breast muscle was enhanced by the addition of a certain amount of NaCl. The addition of both 3.0% NaCl and 0.6‰ γ-polyglutamic acid resulted in the smallest cooking loss rate and highest water-holding capacity, gel strength, hardness, springiness, chewiness and cohesiveness of chicken breast meat gels. The whiteness of the gels was the smallest when the addition of NaCl and γ-polyglutamic acid were 3.0% and 1.2‰. Rheological curves showed that γ-polyglutamic acid could improve the gel-forming capacity of chicken breast meat proteins. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) studies indicated that γ-polyglutamic acid and myofibrillar proteins were cross-linked with each other.

Key words: γ-polyglutamic acid, minced chicken, gelation properties, cooking loss rate