APPLICATION OF ORGANIC ACIDS FOR TEXTURE MODIFICATION OF OCTOPUS (OCTOPUS VULGARIS) MUSCLE

Abstract

ABSTRACT The effect of using organic acids to tenderize octopus (Octopus vulgaris) muscle during heat processing was investigated. They can decrease the stability and increase the solubility of the collagen that is responsible for the toughness of the octopus muscle. Acetic, lactic or citric acid was added at 0.05 and 0.1 M levels during the heat processing of octopus. Toughness was assessed by measuring the force required for a 2‐mm probe to fully penetrate a 5‐mm thick mantle muscle segment using a TA‐XT2i texture analyzer. Addition of the organic acids resulted in significant tenderization compared with the untreated control. No difference in the tenderizing effect of acetic, lactic and citric acids was observed. Differences in the cooking yield of the octopus were observed to be caused by the lowering of the pH of the muscle by the citric acid.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSThe effect of the application of organic acids on octopus muscle was investigated. Based on the results of the study, application of acetic or lactic acid in low concentrations can significantly reduce toughness of octopus muscle and, thus, decrease the duration of the heat processing required to achieve the desired texture, without compromising the yield of the processed product and, thus resulting in significant cost and energy savings.