Inhibition effect of ascorbic acid on the decrease of gelation capacity of liquid whole egg during storage

In order to prevent the decreasing gel property of liquid whole egg during storage, ascorbic acid was added into the liquid whole egg and its effect on the changes of gel strength, water holding capacity, protein sulfhydryl group content and surface hydrophobicity was investigated. The results showed that ascorbic acid significantly inhibited the decrease of gel strength and water holding capacity during storage, as ascorbic acid content was 0.04%, gel strength descended from 40% to 10%, water holding capacity dropped from 17.2% to7.6%.Ascorbic acid also increased the total sulfhydryl content of liquid whole egg and slowed its decline during storage, and no relative obvious inhibition effect was seen on protein hydrophobicity increase as ascorbic acid content was 0.04% and 0.07%, which indicated that the main reason for the inhibition of the decrease of gelation capacity of liquid whole egg during storage was reductive activity of ascorbic acid which reduced the sulfhydryl oxidation loss, led to the formation of more disulfide bonds to stabilize the gel.