Ionizing radiation has its unique popularity as a non-thermal decontamination technique treating with protein-rich foodstuffs to ensure the microbial and sensory quality, particularly for shell eggs. However, the changes in the functional properties of egg protein fractions such as liquid egg white (LEW) with macro/microstructural information are still controversial. Hence, this study was designed to elaborate the foaming and heat-set gelation functionality of LEW following different γ-ray irradiation dose treatments (0, 1, 3 or 5 kGy). For such, the physicochemical properties (active sulfhydryl and the hydrophobicity of protein moieties), structural characteristics (through X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry) and interfacial activities (rheological viscosity, interfacial tension, microrheological performance) were investigated. Then, the thermal gelation of LEW in relation to the texture profile and microstructure (by means of a scanning electron microscope) was evaluated followed by the swelling potency analysis of LEW gel in enzyme-free simulated gastric juice. The results indicated that irradiation significantly increased the hydrophobicity of liquid egg white proteins (LEWPs) (p < 0.05) by exposing non-polar groups and the interfacial rearrangement from a β-sheet to linear and smaller crystal structure, leading to an enhanced foaming capacity. Microstructural analysis revealed that the higher dose irradiation (up to 5 kGy) could promote the proteins' oxidation of LEW alongside protein aggregates formed in the amorphous region, which favored heat-set gelation. As evidenced in microrheology, ≤3 kGy irradiation provided an improved viscoelastic interface film of LEW during gelatinization. Particularly, the LEW gel treated with 1 kGy irradiation had evident swelling resistance during the times of acidification at pH 1.2. These results gave new insight into the irradiation-assisted enhancement of foaming and heat-set gelation properties of LEW.
Keywords: egg white protein; foam and gels; irradiation; protein fragmentation; protein oxidative aggregation; structural characteristics.