Effect of pre-emulsification of plant lipid treated by pulsed ultrasound on the functional properties of chicken breast myofibrillar protein composite gel

- Effect of pre-emulsions using ultrasound on myofibrillar proteins gel was studied.
- After adding the ultrasound treated pre-emulsions to the myofibrillar proteins sols, the water- and fat-binding capacity increased and textural properties improved.
- Composite gels containing pre-emulsion treated with ultrasound for 6 min were composed of homogeneous fine network microstructure.

To explore novel methods for reducing the saturated fatty acid content in meat products, pre-emulsified plant lipids prepared using pulsed ultrasound were used to replace animal fat. Chicken breast myofibrillar protein (MP)-soybean oil emulsion composite gels (SMG) were prepared from 3% chicken breast MP with 27.5% soybean oil incorporated as pre-emulsification with 0.5% sodium caseinate (0.6 M NaCl and 50 mM phosphate solution, pH 6.25). One-factor-at-a-time experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of different ultrasound treatment times on the texture [rheology and texture profile analysis (TPA)], water- and fat-binding (WFB) capacities, and microstructural properties of SMG. Rheological tests showed that ultrasound-treated samples formed a more viscoelastic gel than the control. WFB and textural properties were also significantly improved by pulsed ultrasound (P < 0.05). The ultrasound-treated gels exhibited homogeneous fine network microstructures when the ultrasound time was 6 min. G′72 °C and G″72 °C were highly correlated (P < 0.01) with WFB and TPA (hardness, springiness, chewiness, cohesiveness, and resilience). These findings show that ultrasound treatment has potential in improving the fatty acid composition of emulsion-type meat products with good functional properties and high yields.