To shorten the production cycle of Zaodan, this study first pickled Zaodan by a novel technology - vacuum decompression technology. Vacuum decompression technology could reduce the pickling time of Zaodan from 20 wk to about 9 wk. The protein content, moisture and pH of the Zaodan egg white gradually decreased with a concomitant increase in salt during the pickling process. The total sulfhydryl group (SH) group content of the egg white proteins was increased to 2.43×10-3 mol/L after being pickled for 30 d, whereas the content of disulphide bonds (SS) was reduced to 23.35×10-3 mol/L. The surface hydrophobicity was lowest after pickling for 30 d. In addition, great changes occurred in the secondary structure of the egg white proteins after pickling for 20 d. The disappearance of ovomucin was noticeable based on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis.
Keywords: Zaodan; physical and chemistry properties; structural changes; vacuum decompression technology.