Themal Gelation Properties of Milkfish (Chanos chanos) Cultured in Taiwan

Abstract

The thermal gelation properties of milkfish meat paste were investigated. Moisture content and pH of meat pastes could be controlled by washing with NaHCO3 to obtain better conditions for gelation. When pH was adjusted to 6.8, a meat paste with about 79% moisture was obtained. On washing, the gel strength of the meat pastes increased about 2.5 times for both ordinary and dark muscles. The setting index of 12 and disintegration index of 33 for meat paste indicated that the milkfish appertains to adiffcult-setting and diffcult-disintegrating fish species. In the setting, however, a maximum of the gel strength was observed at 50°C, and its minimum was observed at 70°C, suggesting that the gel forming ability was infiuenced by the environmental adaptation of growth.