Assembly mechanism and digestive characteristics at pork myofibrillar protein-fish oil oleogel interface: Oil phase...

Oleogels have emerged as promising fat substitutes to lower fat and improve oil/water retention in emulsified meat products. The stabilization mechanism at the liquid/solid interface and digestive characteristics are critical for controlling product quality. Considering oil-phase crystallization behavior, the pork myofibrillar protein (MP)-fish oil oleogel (FOO) interface was constructed to explore the effect of beeswax crystallization on liquid/solid interface stability and digestive characteristics. Results indicated that the highest interfacial adsorption capacity was observed in the oleogel emulsions containing 4% beeswax and 10% FOOs, and that interfacial adsorption capacity decreased significantly with the addition of beeswax. Beeswax crystallization enhanced the number and size of crystals, but reduced tertiary-structure unfolding and surface hydrophobicity. The appropriate addition of beeswax and FOOs enhanced MP unfolding and molecular interaction, thus facilitating localization at the oleogel interface and molecular rearrangement. The emulsions with 4% beeswax and 10% FOOs had high apparent viscosity and G' value, which reduced particle size and enhanced interfacial stability. The stable liquid/solid interface lowered MP hydrolysis and bile salt replacement, due to high surface hydrophobicity and disulfide bonds, thereby reducing digestion rates and facilitating intestinal release. The oleogel emulsions with 4% beeswax and 10% FOO can improve total free fatty acid release rates.