Enhancing the quality of fat-reduced pork batter with soybean protein-chitosan nanoparticles based Pickering emulsion

This study aimed to investigate the impact of substituting pork back fat with Pickering emulsion (PE) stabilized by soybean protein isolate-chitosan (SPI-CH) nanoparticles on the quality of pork batters. Cooking loss, rheological properties, water distribution, microstructures, texture, color, and oxidative stability of pork batters were evaluated. The results revealed that replacing fat with PE led to a reduction in fat content and an increase in moisture content, as well as higher L* and b* values (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the substitution resulted in improved gel performance by enhancing rheological properties and texture, reducing water mobility and cooking loss, as well as effectively inhibiting lipid and protein oxidation in pork batters. However, no significant differences were observed in sensory acceptability. The findings suggest that using SPI-CH nanoparticles as a stabilizer for PE presents significant potential as a nutritionally improved fat alternative in meat products, offering enhanced functional characteristics.