Molecular effects of high-pressure processing on food studied by resonance Raman

Molecular effects of high-pressure processing on food studied by resonance Raman

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2010, 1189, 34-42
Filip Tintchev, Hainer Wackerbarth, Uwe Kuhlmann, Stefan Toepfl, Dietrich Knorr, Peter Hildebrandt, and Volker Heinz

Abstract: Pressurization may cause unwanted side effects including color or texture changes of fish and meat. The color changes of poultry, pork, and smoked salmon were studied by CIE L*, a*, b* system, and resonance Raman (RR). High-pressure processing (HPP) of pork and chicken meat resulted in significant color modification at pressures higher than 270 and 280 MPa, respectively. RR spectra were taken after a high-pressure treatment of pork meat. According to the RR-data, deoxymyoglobin is the dominating myoglobin species in pork meat. High-pressure treatment causes conformational changes resulting in a stabile nonnative ferrous myoglobin species while the ferrous myoglobin state is maintained. High-pressure treatment causes a decrease of the relative RR intensities of astaxanthin by salmon as probed with 514 nm. RR spectra excited at 413 nm revealed a heterogeneous broadening of astaxanthin bands accompanied by the formation of deoxymyoglobin or deoxyhemoglobin. The broadening is interpreted as the degradation products of astaxanthin. Obviously, the high-pressure treatment of smoked salmon triggers redox processes of astaxanthin and the heme protein