Abstract: Hemoglobin is the most abundant protein in blood and can be utilized as an additive in foods. As a high-quality protein with excellent functional properties, hemoglobin can endow foods with good quality during their production, storage, processing and consumption. Many food processing conditions can alter the structure of hemoglobin, which in turn may lead to changes in its functional properties. This review will focus on the recent advances in the understanding of the structural changes of hemoglobin during food processing and the consequently varied functional properties, which is expected to guide the control of the functional properties of hemoglobin in food processing.

Key words: hemoglobin; food processing; structural changes; functional properties