Effects of ultrasound combined with κ-carrageenan on the rheological behaviours, textural properties and microstructures of meat batters before and after heating treatment

Abstract

This study primarily investigated the combined effects of ultrasound (US) treatment and κ-carrageenan (KC) on the rheological behaviours, textural properties, and microstructures of meat batters before and after heating. The results revealed that exclusive KC addition effectively improved the apparent viscosity, storage modulus (G′), and loss modulus (G″) of uncooked meat batters. Moreover, the textural properties (e.g. uniformity, consistency, and viscosity) of KC-containing uncooked meat batters initially increased significantly and subsequently decreased with increasing US time (P < 0.05), as evidenced by changes in rheological behaviour. Meanwhile, 20-min US treatment combined with KC evidently exerted the most optimal enhancing effect on the rheological behaviours and textural properties of uncooked meat batters. Furthermore, combined treatment with US and KC resulted in marked improvements in the textural properties and G′ and G″ values of the cooked meat batters as well as the formation of a denser and finer gel network. Additionally, the KC-containing cooked meat batters subjected to 20-min US treatment yielded the highest hardness and springiness values (P < 0.05), an outcome verified via rheological testing (temperature sweep and frequency sweep mode test). Therefore, our results indicated that enhanced rheological behaviours and textural properties of uncooked meat batters probably led to the obviously promotion of quality profiles of cooked meat batters, which also provided some essential information for the combined application of US and KC in the processing of emulsified meat products.