Abstract
The contribution of transglutaminase (TGase) to the setting of the fish flesh pastes at various temperatures was investigated. The pastes of Alaska pollack, horse mackerel, Spanish mackerel, Pacific mackerel, and common carp were set at 20°-40°C. The paste showed the highest TGase activity at 25°-30°C and the lowest activity at 40°C. Addition of 5 mmol/(kg mince) EGTA nullified the activity of the pastes set at each temperature. The suwari gels formed with EGTA around 30°C from the former two fishes and were considerably lower in the breaking force than ones formed without EGTA at the same temperature from each fish. However, the gels formed with EGTA at 40° were not so different in that force from ones formed without it. The findings suggest that in the formation of protein network structure, non-covalent bonds play an important role at the setting around 40°C, but covalents bonds formed by the catalysis of TGase do at the setting around 30°C.
