Gel and Texture Properties of Fish-meat Gel Prepared with Pagrus major in Comparison to Different Grades of Alaska Pollock

Abstract

Fish-meat gel is an intermediate product used in a variety of surimi-based seafood. One of the most-used raw materials of fish-meat gel is Alaska Pollock due to its high-quality meat in terms of gel strength and texture. However, increasing demand for fish-meat gel, along with overexploitation of the wild catch Alaska Pollock, has put the industry in need of low-cost sustainable alternative sources for fish-meat gel. Pagrus major (PM) is a widely aquacultured fish known for having white meat that is low in fat. The current study compares the quality of fish-meat gel prepared from aquacultured PM to that of high and mid-grade Alaska Pollock fish-meat gel. Gels were compared in terms of gel strength, texture, color, and protein pattern. Results indicated that fish-meat gels prepared from PM were superior to Alaska Pollock fish-meat gels with regard to gel strength, hardness, springiness, chewiness, cutting strength, and breaking force. In addition, although not matching in quality, PM exhibited a cohesiveness, whiteness, and expressible moisture content comparable to Alaska Pollock of both grades. Protein pattern analysis also showed that PM and Alaska Pollock fish-meat gels had similar protein profiles before and after gel preparation. Therefore, P. major is suggested as a potential substitute for Alaska Pollock in fish-meat gel production.