Effects of High Pressure on pH, Water-binding Capacity and Textural Properties of Pork Muscle Gels Containing Various Levels of Sodium Alginate

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of sodium alginate (SA) and pressurization levels on pH, water-binding and textural properties of pork muscle gels (PMG) containing salt.Ground lean pork with 1.0% NaCl and a given amount of SA (0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0%, respectively), was pressurized to 100, 200 or 300 MPa and subsequently gelled by heating.Results showed that addition of SA into pork muscle enhanced water-holding capacity (WHC) of PMG (p<0.05) as SA increased from 0.25% to 1.0%, with pH slightly increased (p>0.05).A decrease (p<0.05) was observed in all textural parameters (hardness, cohesiveness, springiness and chewiness).Pressurization had no effect on the tendency of WHC to increase or the decrease of the textural parameters.However, the effectiveness of pressurization to enhance textural properties of PMG was significant at some SA levels, especially ≥200 MPa and at ≤0.75% SA levels.Different combinations of pressure and SA levels could bring about variation in textural properties of PMG while SA enhanced WHC of pork muscle.The multiformity of the texture will open up a wide range of technological possibilities for the manufacture of pork-based restructured low-fat products.(