Species-dependent water and salt migration drives lipoprotein remodeling and quality formation during rapid curing of separated egg yolks.

Rapid curing of separated egg yolks provides an efficient strategy for accelerating salted egg production; however, how species-dependent intrinsic yolk organization regulates small molecule migration and subsequent lipoprotein remodeling remains poorly understood. In this study, egg yolks separated from hen, duck, and sea duck eggs were used as model systems to elucidate the relationships among water and NaCl migration, lipoprotein structural evolution and quality formation during rapid curing. Water redistribution and NaCl accumulation followed distinct migration trajectories among poultry species throughout curing, resulting in different hydration environments and colloidal stability of the yolk matrix. These migration behaviors promoted progressive lipoprotein disassembly, protein conformational rearrangement and subsequent intermolecular reassembly, resulting in species-dependent gel network formation and textural characteristics. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that, although curing progression was the dominant source of variation (PC1), poultry species contributed to the secondary variation (PC2), reflecting species-dependent physicochemical evolution during rapid curing. Correlation analysis further supported the close association among small molecule migration, lipoprotein remodeling, and quality formation during rapid curing, reinforcing the proposed mechanism linking migration behavior with structural reconstruction and functional development. This study establishes a mechanistic framework linking small-molecule migration, lipoprotein reconstruction and quality formation during rapid curing, providing theoretical guidance for species-specific processing optimization and the design of high-quality salted egg products.