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The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of oxidation in vitro on the biochemical properties of myofibrillar protein isolates (MPIs) from beef muscles. MPIs were incubated at 4 °C for 24 h with hydroxyl-radical-generating systems consisting of 0.01 mM FeCl3 and 0.1 mM ascorbic acid plus 0, 0.2, 1, 5, 10, and 20 mM hydrogen peroxide. The results showed that oxidation caused drastically structural changes in bovine MPIs. The carbonyl content, the surface hydrophobicity, and the particle diameter of MPIs were significantly increased, while the free sulfhydryl group content was dramatically decreased with increasing hydrogen peroxide concentrations. Oxidation caused the protein aggregations through cross-linking between proteins and amino acids. Proteomics study identified protein sites in which they were easy to be oxidized. Oxidized catalytic activities and binding sites of enzymes that were susceptible to oxidation were also identified.

The effect of hot-water blanching (HWB) on drying characteristics and product qualities of dried apple slices with the novel integrated freeze-drying (NIFD) process was investigated by comparing with 3 different FD methods. Compared with the NIFD process without HWB pretreatment (VF-FD), the NIFD process with HWB pretreatment (HWB-VF-FD) resulted in a significantly higher mass loss and more sufficient freezing in vacuum-frozen samples, significantly higher rehydration ratio (RR), higher shrinkage ratio (SR), smaller Vitamin C (V C ) content and lower hardness and better apparent shape in freeze-dried samples, and fewer change to the color of the dried or rehydrated samples ( < 0.05). Compared with the conventional FD process with HWB pretreatment (HWB-PF-FD), HWB-VF-FD cost significantly less processing time and FD time and obtained significantly higher RR ( < 0.05), almost the equivalent SR, V C content, and hardness, and similar appearance in dried samples. The microstructure of apple cell tissues was analyzed by transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy to interpret the above differences in drying characteristics and product qualities. The results suggested that the NIFD process of apple slices with HWB pretreatment was a promising alternative method to decrease drying time, achieve similar product quality, and simplify the process steps of the conventional FD technology.

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