Thermal and functional characteristics of defatted bovine heart using supercritical CO₂ and organic solvent

BACKGROUND: Consumer demand for low-fat foods has been increasing as a result of attempts to reduce obesity and chronic diseases. Bovine heart was defatted using supercritical CO₂ (SC-CO₂) at different pressures together with solvent extraction to produce a protein-based functional ingredient for low-fat food products. Thermal and functional characteristics of control and defatted samples were compared. RESULTS: Supercritical CO₂ treatment at high pressure results in more removal of fat, producing a protein-rich defatted bovine heart (DBH). The differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) thermograms and SDS-PAGE bands for SC-CO₂-treated DBHs were similar to those of the control sample, indicating high protein stability and better functionality. Hexane-treated DBH showed no major thermal peaks and very diffuse bands in SDS-PAGE, indicating denaturation of proteins during solvent extraction. No denaturation of proteins in SC-CO₂-treated DBHs resulted in significantly higher water/oil absorption capacities (3320.00 and 2630.00 g kg⁻¹, respectively), total soluble solids (822.20 and 208.71 g kg⁻¹ at pH 3.5 and 6.5, respectively), foaming capacities (149.37%), and emulsion activity (66.89%) than the hexane-treated DBH. CONCLUSION: Supercritical CO₂ treatment of DBH led to higher thermal stability and functional properties than the control and hexane-treated DBH. Defatted bovine heart using SC-CO₂ can be a functional ingredient for various low-fat and high-protein food products for health-conscious consumers.