Effect of Nano Tea Seed Oil Microcapsules on the Quality of Low Fat Minced Pork Products

Low-fat conversion of high-fat products met consumers' pursuit of health, and was one of the future development directions of meat products. In this study, the effects of two forms of tea seed oil (TSO) and nano tea seed oil microcapsules (NTM) on the physical and chemical properties of pork mince products were investigated, with no tea seed oil fat replacing pork mince as the control group. The water retention, cooking yield, water distribution, texture, microstructure, and fat oxidation level of different fat replacing pork mince products were studied. The results showed that the addition of 50% and 70% NTM could improve the water retention ability of pork minced meat products caused by TSO replacement. The T₂₁ relaxation time and proportion of the NTM replacement group were not significantly different from those of the non-replacement control group (P>0.05), while the proportion of non-flowable water in the TSO replacement group was significantly decreased (P<0.05). The L^* and b^* values of the NTM replacement group were enhanced compared with those of the non-tea seed oil replacement group, and the a^* value was decreased. Furthermore, the NTM replacement group had a significant effect on inhibiting fat oxidation, effectively prolonging the storage period. The microstructure results showed that the oil distribution in the NTM replacement group was more uniform than that in the TSO replacement group, and the oil was more closely bound to the protein. The texture characteristics results showed that TSO replacement would cause the deterioration of texture, while NTM could improve the deterioration. The elasticity and viscosity of pork minced meat with 70% NTM replacement were better than those of the 50% and 70% NTM replacement groups. In summary, the addition of 70% NTM can be evenly distributed in pork minced meat, and form more hydrogen bonds with proteins, so as to achieve the purpose of stabilizing the physical and chemical properties of low-fat pork minced meat, such as water retention, hardness, and elasticity. Therefore, the low-fat pork minced meat with 70% NTM is the best.