Mixed gels of egg yolk granules (EYGs) and salted ovalbumin (SO) with different pH values were constructed to design gels of great quality and nutritional properties. However, the formation and dietary properties of mixed gels may be affected by the phase behavior of the mixed protein solution. In this study, the pH was adjusted from 3.0 to 8.0 to tune phase behavior of mixed protein solution before heating. The results demonstrated the presence of a collapsed gel and a dense phase network at pH 3.0 caused by phase separation. As the pH increased and phase separation disappeared, the EYGs-SO gel network showed a filling network structure and then changed to a loose interpenetrating network gel structure with a decreased fractal dimension (from 2.94% to 2.89%). The interpenetrating network improved gel hardness and water-holding capacity. During gelation, the phase separation reduced the gelation … |
