Effect of chickpea protein modified with combined heating and high-pressure homogenization on enhancing the gelation of reduced phosphate myofibrillar protein

Food Chem. 2025 Jan 15;463(Pt 2):141180. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.141180. Epub 2024 Sep 7.

Abstract

The effects of chickpea protein (CP) modified by heating and/or high-pressure homogenization (HPH) on the gelling properties of myofibrillar protein under reduced phosphate conditions (5 mM sodium triphosphate, STPP) were investigated. The results showed that heating and HPH dual-modified CP could decrease the cooking loss by 29.57 %, elevate the water holding capacity by 17.08 %, and increase the gel strength by 126.88 %, which conferred myofibrillar protein with gelation performance comparable with, or even surpassing, that of the high-phosphate (10 mM STPP) control. This gelation behavior improvement could be attributed to enhanced myosin tail-tail interactions, decreased myosin thermal stability, elevated trans-gauche-trans disulfide conformation, strengthened hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonding, the uncoiling of α-helical structures, the formation of well-networked myofibrillar protein gel, and the disulfide linkages between the myosin heavy chain, actin, and CP subunits. Therefore, the dual-modified CP could be a promising phosphate alternative to develop healthier meat products.

Keywords: High-pressure homogenization; Interaction mechanism; Modified chickpea protein; Molecular property; Myofibrillar protein gel; Phosphate reduction.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cicer* / chemistry
  • Cooking
  • Food Handling
  • Gels / chemistry
  • Hot Temperature*
  • Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions
  • Meat Products / analysis
  • Muscle Proteins / chemistry
  • Myofibrils / chemistry
  • Phosphates* / chemistry
  • Plant Proteins* / chemistry
  • Pressure*

Substances

  • Plant Proteins
  • Phosphates
  • Gels
  • Muscle Proteins