Enhancing meat emulsion gels with soy protein fibril and red palm oil Pickering emulsions: The role of emulsification techniques in chicken fat substitution
Lei Zhou, Israq Ali, Bey Hing Goh, Ju‐Yen Fu, Sivakumar Manickam, Siah Ying Tang, Qingwu Shen
Abstract
The study investigated the properties of soy protein fibril-red palm oil Pickering emulsions produced through high-speed shear homogenization (HSH) and ultrasound-assisted emulsification (UAE), focusing on their effects as fat substitutes on the characteristics of myofibrillar protein and meat emulsion gels. Compared to the emulsion produced by HSH, the UAE-generated emulsion demonstrated enhanced storage stability, higher apparent viscosity, a more pronounced absolute zeta potential, and smaller droplet sizes. Replacing less than 50% of the fat did not significantly impact the hardness, springiness, gumminess, or chewiness of the myofibrillar protein emulsion gel. However, when increasing the fat replacement ratio to 75% resulted in a noticeable decline in cohesiveness, gumminess, and chewiness, complicating the formation of a solid gel. Both emulsions were capable of replacing 50% of the chicken fat in a chicken meat emulsion system without significantly compromising texture properties, with UAE-fabricated emulsion exhibiting increased gumminess, chewiness, and resilience. Moreover, the incorporation of Pickering emulsion reduced cooking loss and oil oxidation in the chicken meat emulsion system, with the UAE-fabricated emulsion showing superior control over oil oxidation compared to the HSH-fabricated emulsion over 15 days of storage. • Soy protein fibril-red palm oil Pickering emulsion is used to replace chicken fat • Emulsion fabricated by ultrasound shows higher emulsion stability • Pickering emulsion could replace 50% of chicken fat in the meat emulsion system • Replacing 50% chicken fat with UAE-induced emulsion increases meat emulsion gel’ texture • UAE-induced emulsion is effective in controlling meat oxidation during 15 days