Effect of washing and salt additions on the properties of gel from silver catfish (Pangasius sp.) surimi

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of washing cycles (1,2,3 and 4 cycles) and addition of sodium pyrophosphate (PP) addition (0%, 0.05% and 0.1 % w/w) with or without addition of 50 mmol/kg CaC12 on the properties of surimi gel from silver catfish (Pangasius sp.). This study shows that the deformation, breaking force, gel strength, water holding capacity of silver catfish surimi gel improved with washing cycles until three washing cycles and then decreased afterwards. However, for whiteness properties, both three and four washing cycles gave similar whiteness. The gel strength of surimi gel was highest after three washing cycle without any salt addition (control). However, surimi gels added with 0.05% PP alone gave highest breaking force, deformation and water holding capacity compared to other gels. It was found that the presence of CaCh decreased the deformation of gels. While, whiteness of surimi gels added with CaCh were higher than those without CaCh . The highest whiteness was given by gel with four washing cycles and 50 mmol/kg CaCh. This study shows that number of washing cycles and addition of PP and CaCh treatment affected the properties of surimi gels.