Abstract:

High pressure processing (HPP) as a non-thermal processing technology has broad prospects in the meat
industry. The effects of high pressure levels (100 – 400 MPa) on the properties of chicken breast myosin gel containing
0.5% (m/m) sodium alginate (SA) and 0.2% (m/m) calcium chloride (CaCl2) (M-SA-CaCl2) were investigated. The surface
hydrophobicity, reactive sulfhydryl content, rheological properties and gel microstructure of M-SA-CaCl2 were analyzed in
order to understand the mechanism of the changes in the gel properties. The results showed that the water-holding capacity (WHC)
of M-SA-CaCl2 was significantly (P < 0.05) increased with elevating pressure while the gel strength was decreased. These changes
could result from the significant (P < 0.05) increase in the surface hydrophobicity and reactive sulfhydryl content, weakened
thermal gelation ability of M-SA-CaCl2, and reduced protein aggregation within mixed gel after HPP treatment.

Key words: high pressure processing, myosin, sodium alginate, calcium chloride, gel properties