EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT PROCESSING METHODS ON THE PROPERTIES AND QUALITY CHANGES OF TILAPIA SURIMI AND MYOFIBRILLAR PROTEINS

Abstract

Different processing methods including pH shift, enzymatic, and amino acid addition were applied to tilapia surimi. The property changes including the textural property, rheological behaviour, and protein morphology were mainly investigated. The myofibrillar proteins were specifically studied to depict the underlying mechanisms. The pH shift treated surimi was found to have the best physicochemical properties and it was more suitable to be stored under cold storage. If the pH shift treatment was combined with calcium chloride addition, the final surimi showed both good texture and low lipid content. When 0.03% of bromelain was used to tenderise the fish, the resulting fish cake had a very similar texture to a premium fish cake. Also, if myosin was treated with 10 mM of proline, the solubility of which could be significantly increased in a low salt solution, can this result can be very useful in the future low salt meat processing industry.