Effect of high pressure treatment on the physicochemical and functional properties of egg yolk

The effects of high-pressure (HP) treatment at 100-500 MPa on some physicochemical and functional properties of egg yolk (EY) were investigated. Protein solubility, viscosity, surface hydrophobicity (H₀), free sulfhydryl (SH) content, differential scanning calorimetry characteristics, emulsifying activities and emulsifying stability were evaluated. HP-treatment resulted in protein aggregation, as evidenced by gradual decrease in protein solubility and significantly increased in viscosity. HP-treatment at 100-500 MPa induced a gradual decrease in H₀ and SH content, possibly due to protein unfolding and subsequent aggregation/re-association of unfolded proteins. Emulsifying activity index (EAI) was slightly decreased between 100 and 300 MPa and when the pressure is above 400 MPa, EAI was significantly (P < 0.05) decreased relative to the untreated EY. HP-treatment at 100 MPa significantly (P < 0.05) increased the ESI values of EY, while a significant (P < 0.05) decrease was observed when the pressure was above 200 MPa. It was also investigated that there are significant correlations between physicochemical properties of EY, and the differences in the modification of EY protein by HP treatment at different pressure levels may be attributed to the differences in aggregation and unfolding/refolding extents of proteins.