Abstract
The processing characteristics of freeze-dried pork powder as raw meat for comminuted meat products were compared with those of freeze-thawed pork. The tertiary structural properties, oxidation, and solubility of proteins in the freeze-dried pork powder were investigated. In addition, the properties of the emulsion gels manufactured with freeze-dried pork powder (GFD) and freeze-thawed pork (GFT) at 1.5% and 2.0% NaCl were evaluated. The surface hydrophobicity and intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence intensity of myofibrillar proteins between the freeze-dried pork powder and freeze-thawed pork were similar. However, freeze-dried pork powder had higher carbonyl compounds and lower solubility of sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar proteins than freeze-thawed pork (p<0.05). GFD had higher cooking loss than GFT in 2.0% NaCl, and lower hardness and a* value of GFD were observed regardless of NaCl level (p<0.05). Moreover, GFD had higher malondialdehyde content than GFT at the two NaCl concentrations (p<0.05). Therefore, our study demonstrated that freeze-dried pork powder has lower functional properties than freeze-thawed pork as raw meat for comminuted meat products.