Influence of calcium chloride concentration on the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of tofu

Abstract

The aim of this research is to evaluate the sensory texture and influence of calcium chloride concentration on the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of tofu. Samples were prepared from reconstituted soy milk (12% total solids). Calcium chloride at two different concentrations (0.3 and 0.5%) was used as a coagulant. pH, fat content, humidity and total solids were measured. Quantitative descriptive analysis was used to evaluate the sensory properties of springiness, hardness, friability, deformability, adhesiveness and cohesiveness. Correlations were significant (P ≤ 0.05) between cohesiveness and hardness and between pH and adhesiveness. Using correspondence analysis, the panelists described tofu to be firm and elastic when using the lowest concentration of calcium and firm, adhesive and cohesive when using the highest concentration of calcium. These results indicate that the use of low calcium concentrations (0.3 and 0.5%) increase the hardness of tofu and result in a product prone to fluidity. Of these two calcium concentrations, the lower provided a higher degree of product fluidity. The physicochemical characteristics did not change significantly with the addition of calcium chloride. These results suggest that calcium chloride could be used as an additive to improve tofu fluidity.