The Gel Forming Ability of Washed and Unwashed Fish Meat (Lizardfish and Nile tilapia)

Abstract

The gel forming ability of unwashed and washed lizardfish (Saurida undosquamis and Saurida elongata) and Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) was investigated. Two-step heating of meat gels at 20°, 30°, 40°, 50°, 60°, 70° and 80°C for 20 minutes and 2 hours and further heating at 80°C 20 minutes were performed. Gel strength (g.cm), folding test and degradation of myosin heavy chain (MHC) by SDS-PAGE analysis were evaluated. The high gel strength and high folding test of unwashed and washed lizardfish meat were found at 30° and 40°C of heating and decreased remarkably at 60° and 70°C. However, the decrease of intensity of MHC without the appearance of MHC degraded products were obtained at a heating temperature lower than 50°C. A similar result of gel forming ability of Nile tilapia was found in this experiment. It showed that washed meat had better gel forming ability in both species. Moreover, the MHC degradation of meat gel was found to be a significant indicator for gel forming ability too.