Mechanisms underlying the changes in interaction characteristics of beef sarcoplasmic, myofibrillar protein and their correlations induced by ovalbumin and ethanol addition.

This study aimed to preliminarily investigate the effects of 5% ethanol (E) and ovalbumin (OVA) at different concentrations (0.2%-2%) on the interaction characteristics and underlying mechanisms of beef sarcoplasmic proteins (SP), myofibrillar proteins (MP) and their correlations. The results showed that E + 2%OVA group significantly decreased β-sheet% and induced fainter denaturation peaks in SP matrix, which represented degradation and structure changes. Meanwhile, treatments with E + OVAs (>1%) tended to lower gel-related properties, which reflected by the increased proportion of free water (P22), coarser and looser gel network in MP matrix. DeoMb%, β-sheet% in SP matrix negatively correlated with hardness, water-holding capacity (WHC), surface hydrophobicity, molecular flexibility, total SH content and P22 in MP matrix. This work demonstrated that E + OVAs (≤1%) can improve meat protein-related properties because of mild structural changes and enhanced intermolecular interactions within the SP and MP matrices, thereby improving the meat quality.