Physicochemical and structural properties of composite gels prepared with myofibrillar protein and lard diacylglycerols

The objective of this study was to investigate the physicochemical and structural properties of composite gels prepared with porcine myofibrillar protein (MP) and lard, glycerolized lard (GL) or purified glycerolized lard (PGL). The gels prepared with MP and GL or PGL had significantly higher penetration force and water-holding capacity (WHC) than the gel with lard (P < 0.05) and formed a more compact and orderly microstructure. Compared with the distributions of T2 relaxation times of the pure MP gel, T21 and T22 of the gels that were prepared with GL or PGL moved in the direction of slower relaxation time, which suggests that the water mobility in the gel system was restricted. The presence of lard, GL and PGL did not affect the participating proteins in composite gels. The presence of GL and PGL altered the secondary and tertiary structures of MP in composite gels, which changed the gel properties. In general, the composite gels that were prepared with MP and GL or PGL showed improved gel quality.