Satoshi Noguchi

Effect of Starch on the Evaluation of Surimi Gels Made from Various Kinds of Fish Species

The present study is concerned with the rheological properties of cooked surimi gels made from various kind of fish species and starch from the point of view of quality measuring system of surimi. The textural changes of cooked gels samples were observed with punch test and torsion test. The values of stress were increased by addition of starch in any tested surimi gel samples,but the values of strain varied with fish species and grades. Composite characteristics of cooked surimi gels containing various amount of starch were assessed by examining the microstructure under cryo-scanning microscope. The microstructures of tested gels suggest that the gel-strengthening effect of starch is closely related with a kind of competition between water holding capacity of surimi gel matrix and swelling power of starch globules by heating.The results of present study show that the effect of starch is varied with fish species and grades complicatedly,and suggested that the difficulties of use of starch for the practical quality measurement system of widely varied surimi samples