The reduction of the salt content of foods is of interest for health reasons. The present study showed that low-salt surimi gels could be produced using a combination of l-arginine (Arg) and transglutaminase (TGase) under microwave (MW) irradiation. The low-salt surimi gels produced by MW had similar physicochemical properties as regular-salt surimi gels produced by conventional two-stage water bath heating. Compared to low-salt surimi gels containing TGase alone, Arg increased the water holding capacity and gel strength (P < 0.05) and promoted the formation of a more homogeneous and compact three-dimensional gel network. As a result, there was a significant increase in the proportion of immobilized water and decrease in the proportion of free water (P < 0.05). The nature of the binding sites between Arg and myosin heavy chain was predicted using the molecular docking simulations analysis. These results may be useful for the development of low-salt surimi products.
Keywords: Low-salt surimi; Microwave; Molecular docking; Protein structure; Transglutaminase; l-arginine.
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