Microwave-mediated fibrous blended gels of crab meat and surimi: Fibrous protein production method in the perspective of structural remodeling

Abstract

Using animal-derived raw materials to prepare novel protein-based products with a fibrous structure has attracted widespread attention. In this study, a blended gel of precocious Chinese mitten crabmeat and silver carp surimi (w:w = 1:4) was prepared to investigate the effect of microwave puffing and vacuum packaging (MP-VP) technique on the fibrous reconfiguration process of the blended gel. The results showed that the fibrous degree of the gel gradually increased with the increase of initial moisture content (IMC), microwave time (MT) and microwave power (MP), and then decreased or leveled off. An increase in IMC decreased the water holding capacity and hardness of the gel. Whereas, the increase of MT or MP increased the water holding capacity and percentage of bound water of the gel, while the hardness showed a tendency to decrease and then increase. Observations of macrostructure and microstructure showed that moderate microwave puffing was beneficial to the formation of the fibrous structure, and excessive microwave expansion leads to too high hardness values to form a fibrous structure. The best fibrous degree of the gel was achieved when the IMC, MT, and MP were 84 %, 130 s, and 32 W/g, respectively, up to 2.23 ± 0.11. MP-VP technology was demonstrated to prepare blended gel products with fibrous structures by structural remodeling. This technology could facilitate the diversification of methods for the preparation of fibrous protein products.