Response surface methodology was used to investigate the main effects and interactions of blood plasma (BP, 0-2%), microbial transglutaminase (MTG, 0-0.6%) and kappa-carrageenan (CGN, 0-0.8%) on water binding, textural and color characteristics of pork gels. An increased addition of both kappa-carrageenan and plasma protein favorably affected thermal stability of pork batters, but the effects were attenuated by increased BP and CGN addition, respectively. The combination of CGN with BP was unable to improve springiness or cohesiveness and led to the formation of less cohesive and more brittle gels. Microbial transglutaminase had little effect on color and water binding properties although it was found that its addition improved cohesiveness and elastic properties of meat gels processed with BP. Addition of BP produced an increase in lightness and a decrease in redness of pork gels, while the presence of CGN resulted in lower a* values. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.