ABSTRACT This study systematically investigated the synergistic effects of sodium alginate (SA) modification, transglutaminase (TG) content, and oil phase volume fraction on the stability, microstructure, and rheological properties of zein deamidated hydrolysate (ZH) based emulsion gels. Emulsion gels with varying oil phase volume fractions (55%–75%) and TG content (0%–2.5%) were systematically characterized. The results showed that the combination of SA's electrostatic and steric stabilization with TG‐induced cross‐linking and increased oil phase volume fractions significantly improved emulsion stability. TG cross‐linked ZH‐SA (TG‐ZSA) emulsion gels exhibited smaller droplet size, higher physical stability, and superior viscoelastic properties compared with the uncross‐linked ZH‐SA (ZSA) emulsion gels. The stabilization mechanism of TG‐ZSA emulsion gels is determined by distinct TG cross‐linking levels. Lower TG content primarily induces intermolecular cross‐linking between ZHs, while higher TG content promotes both intra‐ and intermolecular cross‐linking. Rheological analysis revealed that emulsion gels containing 75% oil phase emulsion and 2.5% TG exhibited similar shear‐thinning properties, strong gel elasticity, and high creep recovery performance to commercially available mayonnaise, indicating their potential as fat‐reduced alternatives. This study reveals the adaptive regulation of TG content and oil phase volume, providing theoretical support for the tunable functionality of TG‐ZSA‐based emulsion gels in food products.
Kuang et al. (Thu,) studied this question.