Physico-chemical properties and sensory quality of surimi from bigtooth pomfret (Brama orcini) at different washing cycles

Abstract

In this study, the effects of different washing cycles on the physico-chemical and sensory properties of surimi from Brama orcini were determined. The isolated muscle from B. orcini was divided into five different treatment lots, WC0 (minced, no washing), WC1 (washing cycle 1), WC2 (washing cycle 2), WC3 (washing cycle 3), and WC4 (washing cycle 4) as washing cycle treatments. Both washed and unwashed samples have been added with cryoprotectants and analysed for physico-chemical and sensory evaluation. Results in this study highlighted that increased washing cycle (WC) improved the water-holding capacity of WC3 (88.89%) and WC4 (86.11%) samples, as compared WC0 (63.84%), WC1 (73.51%), WC2 (82.82%) samples (p<0.05). Three to four washing cycles (WC3, WC4) also favoured a significant reduction in the total ash levels (0.50, 0.45%), increased moisture content (71.5, 74.39%), decreased expressible drip losses (11.11, 13.89%), improved whiteness indices (52.46, 51.74%), and increased product over-all acceptability scores (7.12, 8.44) in surimi without compromising its yield (32.00, 31.23%) and total protein content (22.15, 20.84%). This study suggested that washing three times with cold saltwater (10-15°C) improved the physico-chemical and sensory properties of surimi from B. orcini.