Mechanism study of the gel-forming ability of heat-induced gel from Peruvian hake (Merluccius gayi peruanus) surimi

• Published in: Food chemistry Vol. 413; p. 135635
• Main Authors: Shi, Yafang, Geng, Jie-Ting, Yoshida, Yuichi, Jiang, Jinyong, Osako, Kazufumi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2023
• Subjects: Animals; Cysteine Proteases; Endogenous cysteine protease; Fish Products - analysis; Fish Proteins - metabolism; Fishes - metabolism; Gadiformes - metabolism; Gel-forming ability; Hot Temperature; Parasite; Perciformes - metabolism; Peru; Peruvian hake; Transglutaminase; Peru; Parasite; Endogenous cysteine protease; Gel-forming ability; Transglutaminase; Peruvian hake
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.135635

•The effect of protease activity and parasite on Peruvian hake gel was investigated.•Peruvian hake surimi with high parasite infection showed high gel-forming ability.•The high protease activity of Peruvian hake surimi was related to texture damage.•ETGase plays a crucial role in improving gel-forming ability at 40 °C heating.•Heating 20 min at 40 °C isbeneficial for the gel quality of Peruvian hake surimi. The commercial value of Peruvian hake (Merluccius gayi peruanus) meat is low because of its soft texture. This study investigated the major factor contributing to the gel-forming ability of Peruvian hake surimi by comparing the effects of endogenous protease activity and parasitic infection. Heat-induced gels could not be obtained at 50 °C–90 °C. Surimi with severe parasitic infection showed a stronger gel-forming ability. The endogenous protease activities were the main factor influencing the Peruvian hake meat proteolysis and contributed to the low gel-forming ability, rather than parasitic infection. Specifically, endogenous cysteine proteases played an essential role in protein degradation and low gel-forming ability. Moreover, endogenous transglutaminase was also shown to be involved in the gel-forming ability upon heating at 40 °C. These results suggested that Peruvian hake meat could be used as a raw material of frozen surimi for fish gel by inhibiting the activity of endogenous proteases.