The effect of water-insoluble dietary fiber from star anise on water retention of minced meat gels

The mechanism of star anise dietary fiber (SADF) in improving the water-holding capacity (WHC) of meat batter during chilled storage was investigated. In the 0-day storage group, the cooking loss (CL) decreased from 11.93% to 9.38% with the increased content of SADF, indicating that the physical filling of SADF could improve the WHC of cooked meat batter. After 7 days of chilled storage, the CL of meat batter without SADF increased from 11.93% to 17.65%, while the addition of SADF significantly reduced the CL, especially 2% SADF showing the lowest CL. Additionally, adding SADF could significantly improve the color stability and increase the hardness of cooked meat batter. According to the results of TBARS and carbonyls, SADF significantly inhibited lipid oxidation and alleviated oxidative damage of protein, resulting in an increase in the level of β-sheet, which was confirmed by the result of FT-IR. Therefore, the water mobility of meat batter was restricted, which was confirmed by the T2 relaxation time. In general, the water retention of meat batter during chilled storage was improved via antioxidant and physical filling of SADF.