Effect of the Dispersion of Protein Network Structure on the Amount of Bound Water in Kamaboko

Abstract

Electrostatic discussion was given on the reason why the elastic fish flesh gel, kamaboko, contained more abundant bound water than the brittle one. Within the gel, we supposed a straight axis along which a number of ionic amino acid residues were arranged. The combined electric potentials along the axis varied with the position and the number of the residues on the axis. The region of bound water was calculated by assuming that water molecule would bind to the ionic residues in the region where potential energy of water molecule overcomes its kinetic energy. This region was proved to increase as the dispersion and the number of the residues increased. On the other hand, the reflection spectra of the electronograph of the fish flesh gels showed that the protein network structure dispersed more finely and more homogenously in the elastic gel than in the brittle one. From the above results, we concluded that the homogeneously dispersed ionic amino acid residues in the elastic fish flesh gel resulted in an increase in the amount of bound water.