Combined effects of blood plasma powder, agar, and microbial transglutaminase on physicochemical and textural properties of pork muscle gels

The effects of blood plasma (BP, 0–2.5%), agar (0–1.0%), and microbial transglutaminase (MTG, 0–0.5%) on water-binding capacity, color (L*, a*, and b* values) and textural properties of pork muscle gels (PMG) were investigated with response surface methodology. The potential interaction among these ingredients was evaluated by DSC, SEM, and FT-IR. The results shown that the addition of BP into PMG could result in decreased cooking loss (CL) and L* (p<0.01), as well as increased a*, springiness, and chewiness of the gels (p<0.05), while the treatment with MTG led to increased CL (p<0.01). Agar could obviously improve CL of PMG, but lead to inferior springiness and cohesiveness (p<0.05). Moreover, the synergism among muscle proteins, BP, MTG, and agar implied that there were some kinds of interactions among these ingredients, thus influencing the properties of PMG.