Abstract: Chicken meat sausages with different contents of salt (0%, 1%, or 2%) were heated at 60 ℃ at different pressures (0.1, 200, or 400 MPa) for 30 min, with the aim to investigate the effects of high pressure and salt on gel properties of heat-induced protein gels from chicken meat sausages including water-holding capacity, water distribution, texture and microstructure. It was found that the water-holding capacity and texture of the sausages decreased with decreasing salt addition, but high pressure could offset this effect. Compared with heating at atmospheric pressure, heating at 200 MPa pressure significantly improved the water-holding capacity and texture of heat-induced protein gels (P < 0.05), while the reverse effect was observed at 400 MPa (P < 0.05). High pressure promoted the disruption of myofibrillar structure, increased the proportion of immobilized water and decreased the proportion of free water. Heating at 200 MPa produced a dense gel network, whereas the formation of gel works was blocked at 400 MPa. Conclusively, the gel properties of salt reduced chicken sausages could be improved by using an intermediate level of high pressure combined with heating.

Key words: high pressure processing, gelation, protein denaturation, texture, water holding capacity