Surimi for snacks: physicochemical and sensory properties of fried fish snacks prepared from surimi of different fish species

Abstract

Surimi has been traditionally used as the main ingredient in gelling foods, such as imitation crab sticks. However, it can also be used to manufacture snacks without gelling properties. To assess the properties of surimi as a snack ingredient, we prepared fried fish snacks with different surimi grades of Alaska pollack (AP) and threadfin bream (TB) and evaluated their quality characteristics. AP had significantly higher protein and gel strength values than TB did. Regarding color, TB showed significantly lower lightness (L) values and higher redness (a) and yellowness (b) values than AP did, consistent with the appearance of a brown color. TB had significantly lower hardness values, higher thickness expansion, and higher oil content than AP did. Hardness was found to be positively correlated with gel strength and negatively correlated with oil content. In the micro-structure images, more blistering was formed in TB, indicating higher expansion and crispiness. In the sensory evaluation, TB showed higher overall sensory acceptance than AP did, which is the result of its high color content, crispiness, taste, and aroma. Principal component analysis of the electronic nose and tongue revealed that the samples were clearly separated. In particular, TB had more aromatic components than AP in the electronic tongue. Our findings indicate that gel strength, which determines the quality properties of surimi, does not need to be considered in snack manufacturing. In fact, surimi with low gel strength is a more suitable ingredient for snack manufacturing.