Abstract: To study the effect of fat/protein (FP) ratio on the emulsion stability, color, pH, texture property, rheological property and microstructure of meat batters. The results showed that the percentages of the total expressible fluid and fat loss in high FP (29:13) treatment were significantly higher than those of the middle FP (18:12) and low (9:12) treatments (P＜0.05). With the increase of the FP ratio, the L*- value of the uncooked meat emulsion and its gel increased significantly (P＜0.05), while a*- and b*- values decreased (P＜0.05). So did the gel hardness, but reverse for the springiness (P＜0.05). For chewiness and gumminess of the gels, the middle FP treatment had the highest level and the low FP treatment was in the second place, while the high FP treatment was the last. The meat batter with the low FP ratio had the less storage modulus (G'). Moreover, the gels of the middle and low FP treatments had a more compact, smooth and uniform protein matrix, while the high FP meat gels had coarse protein matrix and protein film residual. Therefore, the middle FP (18:12) ratio could give a good quality of meat batter observed in this study.

Key words: fat/protein ration, meat batter ratio, color, texture property, microstructure, rheological property