Thermal gelling properties and structural properties of myofibrillar protein including thermo-reversible and thermo-irreversible curdlan gels

•Curdlan gels enhanced the gel strength of myofibrillar protein (MP) gels.•Water holding capacity of MP gels were also improved by adding curdlan gels.•Thermo-reversible curdlan gel led to the highest final G′ and G″ values of MP gels.•Curdlan gels promoted the structural transition of α-helix into β-sheet of MP gels.•Each type of curdlan gel interacted with MP through its distinctive modes. This study investigated the gelling and structural properties of composite gels prepared with myofibrillar protein (MP) and different concentrations of thermo-reversible curdlan gels (TRC) and thermo-irreversible curdlan gels (TIRC). The gel strength, water holding capacity, and whiteness of MP gels were significantly increased with increasing TRC and TIRC content (P