Meat systems produced with Monascus pigment water-in-oil-in-water multiple emulsion as pork fat replacers

Multiple emulsions have drawn great attentions from researchers in the production of low-fat foods. The Monascus pigment W/O/W multiple emulsions were prepared by a two-step emulsification procedure with Monascus pigment as inner water phase, flaxseed gum (FG) as internal water phase gel, soybean oil as oil phase, and pea protein isolate (PPI) as outer water phase. We aimed to investigate the quality of pork emulsion systems in which pork fat was replaced by W/O/W emulsions. The results revealed that addition of W/O/W emulsions reduced lipid contents from 11.22% to 5.09%, enhanced protein level from 15.77% to 17.02%, increased polyunsaturated fatty acid composition from 23.36% to 59.63%, improved water-holding capacity and oxidative stability compared to the control samples with pork fat. It was demonstrated that meat systems could achieve dual functions including decreasing the total fat content without affecting the hardness of the meat systems and color retention.