Effect of Certain Ingredients on the Gelation Behaviour of Surimi Prepared From Lizard Fish (<i>Saurlda tumbil</i>)

Abstract

In the preparation of surimi-based products, various ingredients are used, which influence the quality of the products. The present investigation was conducted to study the effect of four such ingredients, namely salt, starch, water and oil on the gel strength of surimi gels. Surimi was prepared from lizardfish, Saurida tumbil and kept at -35°C. After one day, the frozen surimi was thawed and mixed with table salt at 3% level. Then ingredients such as starch, water and oil were added separately at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30% level. To find out the effect of salt concentration, table salt was added separately at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5% level to the thawed surimi. After thorough mixing with the ingredients, the surimi was stuffed into PVDC casings, sealed and kept at room temperature for 4 hours for setting. The samples were processed by boiling at 90°C for 30 min and cooled quickly in iced water. After overnight chill storage, gel strength was measured following standard method by a gelometer. Among different concentrations of salt, 2% showed the highest gel strength of 1084 g. mm. Starch-added surimi showed the highest gel strength of 3466 g. mm at 25% level. For water-added surimi, gel strength decreased with increase in water content with maximum gel strength of 536 g. mm at 5% level. In case of oil-added surimi, gel strength increased with increase in oil level up to 20% (1428 g. mm) beyond which it decreased.