Fish protein as a new emulsifier: Mechanism, enhancement, application

Abstract

Marine resources are rich. In recent years, more and more people have paid attention to the development of blue food. Fish protein is one of the essential biomolecules in blue food. It is a natural emulsifier because of its natural, nontoxic, easily obtained, degradable, and good surface activity. The research and application of fish protein as an emulsifier were reviewed in this paper. The emulsifying mechanism of fish protein was discussed. The emulsifying property of fish protein was affected by natural factors (source and protein concentration) and processing environment (ion strength, temperature, and pH). The emulsifying property of fish protein was improved by ultrasound, high pressure, microgel, complexation, glycosylation, and enzyme cross‐linking. It was pointed out that future research of fish protein applications should focus on the problems of shortening the gap between laboratory and commercial; stable emulsion of fish protein is difficult to preserve and single loading. It provides a reference for the development of fish protein emulsifiers.