Evaluation of Antioxidant Activity of Egg White Hydrolysates and Their Application on Color Stability of Pork Meat Slices

In this study, we assessed the antioxidant efficacy of four different size distributions of Egg White (EW) hydrolysates and evaluated their potential as natural antioxidants for meat preservation. Water solubility and Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) of EW hydrolysates were measured. Hydrolysis contributed to the increase of ORAC values of EW hydrolysates in comparison with native egg white. Based on this result, we investigated the effects of EW hydrolysates on color stability of pork slices. Pork slices were individually soaked in four EW hydrolysates solutions at 10% (w/w) protein concentration. After storage at 4°C for 24 h, objective measurements of the color of pork slices were performed using a colorimeter, the content of metmyoblobin before and after soak was also determined. Small size EW hydrolysate S showed a good ORAC value (389 µmol TE/g) and an excellent water solubility, inhibited color change (ΔE = 2.8) in treated pork slices, the lowest metmyoglobin proportion was also found in the meat treated by this small size EW hydrolysate S. Moreover, it was demonstrated that EW hydrolysates were generally better than the Control (only with water) in improving color stability during storage time. These results indicate that EW hydrolysates are promising sources of biological antioxidants and can potentially be used as preservatives in meat products.