Abstract
This research investigated the effects of CaCl(2) on the aggregation behavior and protein structure of egg yolk plasma and granules after fast salting. The addition of CaCl(2) to the salt solution decreased T(23), D [4,3] and the absolute value of the zeta potential by 6.71%, 3.66%, and 3.15%, respectively, while increasing T(22) by 15.85% in egg yolk plasma. Moreover, adding CaCl(2) also increased the apparent viscosity and G' value of egg yolk plasma. On the other hand, the addition of CaCl(2) decreased the T(22), T(23), D [4,3], and absolute value of the zeta potential of egg yolk granules by 56.53%, 6.71%, 6.02%, and 34.27%, respectively. Furthermore, the addition of CaCl(2) increased the number of β-turns by 51.22%, whereas it decreased the number of β-sheets by 26.55% in egg yolk plasma protein. The α-helices, β-turns, and β-sheets of egg yolk granule protein decreased by 6.58%, 3.58%, and 6.96%, respectively. Additionally, the addition of CaCl(2) can increase the degree of λ(max) redshift in egg yolk plasma and decrease the degree of λ(max) redshift in egg yolk granules. Overall, the addition of CaCl(2) can change the aggregation mode of proteins in egg yolk plasma and granules, improving the quality of salted egg yolk products.