Effects of freezing methods on physicochemical properties, protein/fat oxidation and odor characteristics of surimi gels with different cross-linking degrees

• Published in: Food chemistry 2024-01, Vol.432, p.137268-137268, Article 137268
• Main Authors: Luo, Xiaoying, Huang, Kang, Niu, Yongxin, Zhang, Xu, An, Yueqi, Liu, Ru, Xiong, Shanbai, Hu, Yang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: air; crosslinking; flavor; food chemistry; gels; lipid metabolism; liquid nitrogen; odors; surimi; texture; thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.137268

This work investigated the effects of liquid nitrogen immersion freezing (LNF), -35°C air freezing (AF-35℃) and -18°C air freezing (AF-18℃) on the physical and chemical characteristics and flavor quality of surimi gels with different cross-linking degrees. Compared to AF-35°C and AF-18°C, LNF was shown to considerably delay the texture deterioration and water migration of frozen gels, as well as the accumulation of thiobarbituric acid reactive substance values and carbonyl contents. Additionally, an appropriate increase of cross-linking degree (45.83 to 62.99%) was found able to improve gel properties and inhibit quality deterioration during freezing. Moreover, LNF-treated gels were closer to fresh gels in the amount of volatile compounds, in contrast to most significant negative aroma changes in AF-18℃-treated gels. Furthermore, 29, 29 and 31 key differential volatile compounds were screened for gels with a cross-linking degree of 29.66, 45.83 and 62.99%, respectively, mainly including aldehydes, alcohols and esters.