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The effects of 5 mM L-histidine (L-His) on water-binding capacity, gel strength, thermal gelling properties of chicken breast myofibrillar proteins (MPs) in 1 mM NaCl or 0.6 M NaCl solutions (pH 7.0) were investigated. L-His could significantly increase the solubility and thermal gelling ability of MPs in 1 mM NaCl. L-His at 1 mM NaCl shortened the water relaxation time and decreased the water mobility of MPs gel. L-His promoted the formation of MPs gel structure with small pores and thin strands at 1 mM NaCl. These resulted in the enhanced water retention and weak gel strength of MPs in low ionic strength solution. The water-binding capacity of MPs gels formed in 1 mM NaCl containing 5 mM L-His was equivalent to that with 0.6 M NaCl. The information could offer certain theoretical foundation to apply L-His as sodium salt substitute for developing low-salt meat gelling product with high yield.

To expand utilisation of meat in various products, the characterisation and functionalities of watersoluble myofibrillar proteins (WSMP) induced by high-pressure homogenisation (HPH) were determined by comparison with those of soy protein isolate (SPI) and whey protein isolate (WPI). WSMP had high contents of protein (87.40%), which was mainly composed of myosin, actin and tropomyosin. The essential amino acids of WSMP achieved the FAO/WHO/UNO (2007) standards for preschool children, and the contents of lysine and sulphur-containing amino acids of WSMP were higher than those of SPI, making it desirable for children formulations. WSMP showed higher surface hydrophobicity while its water solubility was similar to that of SPI, but lower than that of WPI. WSMP demonstrated superior water/oil absorption capacities and emulsifying properties. The fibrous structure and high hydrophobic activity characteristics of WSMP were able to stabilise oil droplets with submicron droplet size, consequently responsible for its excellent emulsifying properties. A comparison study on functionality of WSMP X. Chen et al. 2335 *The proportion of essential amino acids (E) to the total amino acids (T) of the protein concentrate. † All the data are expressed as mean AE SD and are the mean of three replicates. Means with the different letters within the same row are significantly different (P < 0.05). ‡ Essential amino acids; § methionine + cysteine.; ¶ tyrosine + phenylalanine; **data from FAO/WHO/UNO (2007); † †data cited from Ghribi et al. (2015).A comparison study on functionality of WSMP X. Chen et al.

In the study, osmotically dehydrated cherry tomatoes were partially dried to water activity between 0.746 and 0.868, vacuum-packed and stored at 4-30 °C for 60 days. Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) was utilized to predict the physicochemical and microbiological parameters of these partially dried cherry tomatoes during storage. Satisfactory accuracies were obtained when ANFIS was used to predict the lycopene and total phenolic contents, color and microbial contamination. The coefficients of determination for all the ANFIS models were higher than 0.86 and showed better performance for prediction compared with models developed by response surface methodology. Through ANFIS modeling, the effects of storage conditions on the properties of partially dried cherry tomatoes were visualized. Generally, contents of lycopene and total phenolics decreased with the increase in water activity, temperature and storage time, while aerobic plate count and number of yeasts and molds increased at high water activities and temperatures. Overall, ANFIS approach can be used as an effective tool to study the quality decrease and microbial pollution of partially dried cherry tomatoes during storage, as well as identify the suitable preservation conditions.

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