Core-shell structured protein oleogel by chitosan conjugation and curcumin interfacial complexation as fat replacer for Xiaodu quality enhancement

Abstract

Developing clean-label fat replacers with desired structural and oxidative stability is a challenge for traditional duck meat Xiaodu with high saturated fat. Herein, we fabricated a novel core-shell oleogel based on goose liver protein (GLP) modified by chitosan (CS) conjugation and curcumin (Cur) interfacial complexation; three treated groups including shell modified CS-GLP, core modified GLP_-Cur and their synergy (CS-GLP_-Cur) were compared with the control group (GLP) for 30 % backfat replacement and multidimensional quality. Among them, the core-shell modified CS-GLP_-Cur mostly improved GLP interfacial properties, achieving the smallest emulsion D [4,3], lowest turbiscan instability index and highest oil holding capacity exceeding 85 %. The CS-GLP_-Cur oleogel optimized meat batter rheology, strengthened gel networks via hydrophobic interactions and disulfide bonds, and notably improved centrifugal (86.9 %) and cooking (85.6 %) water retention. Texture analysis showed the replacement maximized the springiness (6.43 mm) and cohesiveness (0.67) with decreased hardness from 187.2 N to 147.4 N. The incorporation of CS-GLP_-Cur yielded consistently the lowest TBARS value of 2.18 ± 0.10 mg/kg over 21 days storage among all groups. Moreover, the core-shell oleogel demonstrated good consumer acceptability with significantly alleviated hexanal off-flavor. This tailored core-shell oleogel offers a feasible strategy to reduce saturated fat while retaining comprehensive quality of duck meat Xiaodu product.