Molecular effects of high-pressure processing on food studied by resonance Raman

Pressurization may cause unwanted side effects including color or texture changes of fish and meat. The color changes of poultry, pork, and smoked salmon were studied by CIE L*, a*, b* system, and resonance Raman (RR). High-pressure processing (HPP) of pork and chicken meat resulted in significant color modification at pressures higher than 270 and 280 MPa, respectively. RR spectra were taken after a high-pressure treatment of pork meat. According to the RR-data, deoxymyoglobin is the dominating myoglobin species in pork meat. High-pressure treatment causes conformational changes resulting in a stabile nonnative ferrous myoglobin species while the ferrous myoglobin state is maintained. High-pressure treatment causes a decrease of the relative RR intensities of astaxanthin by salmon as probed with 514 nm. RR spectra excited at 413 nm revealed a heterogeneous broadening of astaxanthin bands accompanied by the formation of deoxymyoglobin or deoxyhemoglobin. The broadening is interpreted as the degradation products of astaxanthin. Obviously, the high-pressure treatment of smoked salmon triggers redox processes of astaxanthin and the heme protein.