Abstract
Ultra-high pressure homogenization (UHPH) is a promising method for destabilizing and potentially improving the techno-functionality of the egg yolk granule. This study’s objectives were to determine the impact of pressure level (50, 175 and 300 MPa) and number of passes (1 and 4) on the physico-chemical and structural properties of egg yolk granule and its subsequent fractions. UHPH induced restructuration of the granule through the formation of a large protein network, without impacting the proximate composition and protein profile in a single pass of up to 300 MPa. In addition, UHPH reduced the particle size distribution up to 175 MPa, to eventually form larger particles through enhanced protein–protein interactions at 300 MPa. Phosvitin, apovitellenin and apolipoprotein-B were specifically involved in these interactions. Overall, egg yolk granule remains highly stable during UHPH treatment. However, more investigations are needed to characterize the resulting protein network and to evaluate the techno-functional properties of UHPH-treated granule.
Highlights
Hen egg yolk is used in a wide variety of food products as an emulsifier and gelling agent due to its nutritional and techno-functional properties
The results showed a drastic reorganization of the granule’s microstructure with the severity of Ultra-high pressure homogenization (UHPH) treatment but little impact on its protein composition
This study demonstrates that increasing the pressure to 300 MPa and the number of passes to 4 induces structural modification of the granule by decreasing the particle size and increasing protein–protein interactions to eventually form a protein network
Summary
Hen egg yolk is used in a wide variety of food products as an emulsifier and gelling agent due to its nutritional and techno-functional properties. It is interesting because it contains proteins of high biological value, as well as other nutrients (phospholipids, vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids) [1]. 68% low-density lipoproteins (LDLs), 16% high-density lipoproteins (HDLs), 10% globular proteins (livetins), 4% phosphoprotein (phosvitin), and 2% other minor proteins [2]. The plasma is mainly composed of LDLs (85%) and livetin (15%), whereas the granule consists of HDLs (70%), phosvitin (16%) and LDLs (12%). The granule has interesting nutritional properties related to its low cholesterol (LDLs) content [3,4,5]
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