A Review of the Key Mechanism of Oil and Water Retention in Emulsified Meat Products

Chopping and emulsification treatment can play a decisive role in the texture and oil and water retention of emulsified meat products, but unreasonable chopping or emulsifying process will cause quality defects such as water and oil exudation and loos structure. Thus, how to improve meat product quality is a major technical difficulty in the meat processing industry. The stability of emulsified gels involves myosin aggregation behavior, gelation and interfacial membrane emulsification-adsorption behavior. In this context, this paper reviews the effect of myosin spatial conformation on the stability of emulsified gels in the process of chopping and emulsification from the perspective of protein hydration, focusing on the effects of hydration characteristics during chopping and the spatial conformation of myosin aggregates on the structure of heat-induced gels and the influence of the interfacial protein membrane’s structure on the stability of emulsified gels. The interactions between water, fat and myosin during the emulsification-adsorption process are discussed, and the significant effects of the structure, thickness and viscoelastic properties of interfacial protein membranes on emulsion stability are clarified, which will provide an improved understanding of the stabilization mechanism of emulsified gels. Hydrogels have good gelling and emulsifying properties, so it can be used as an animal fat substitute to reduce the fat content in meat products. Furthermore, hydrogels can improve the rheological and mechanical properties of muscle proteins, thus enhancing the printability of meat products. Therefore, the application of hydrogels to 3D printed meat products will become a new strategy to improve the oil and water retention properties and texture of meat products.