Pasteurization and chilled storage of restructured fish muscle products based on glucomannan gelation

Abstract

The effect of pasteurization and stability during subsequent chilled storage of three fish restructured prototypes made with 1.25% glucomannan and fish mince (sawdust from cutting of frozen fish blocks) was examined through physicochemical (water binding ability, mechanical and rheological behaviour), microbiological and sensory analyses. Three lots were made: control lot (C); lot O (with 5% added fish oil), and lot S (with 0.8% added NaCl). The three lots were pasteurized (80 °C 20 min) and stored at 5 °C. Analyses were carried out at 1, 7, 21 and 35 days of chilled storage.Pasteurization produced a significant decrease in water binding capacity (WBC) and cooking loss (CL), less evident in lots O and S, due to changes in structure. In the case of lot O, an emulsion was formed in gel network, making this sample less acceptable from a sensory point of view. The addition of salt (lot S) produced an ionic situation more conducive to protein-polysaccharide associations, thus reinforcing the gel network.