Denaturation and the Glass Transition Temperatures of Myofibrillar Proteins from Osmotically Dehydrated Tilapia: Effect of Sodium Chloride and Sucrose

Abstract

The effect of sodium chloride and/or sucrose content on the denaturation (Td) and the glass transition (Tg) temperatures of osmotically dehydrated tilapia fillets using binary or ternary solutions at 20°C, was evaluated. DSC analyses revealed that myofibrillar proteins denaturation temperatures and enthalpies decreased with increase in muscle salt content. Sugar produced a stabilizing effect on denaturation of the fillets proteins. When ternary solutions were used, sucrose did not protect the proteins against the ionic stress produced by the salt. Tg was affected by the residual moisture content of the samples. Influence of NaCl was important at low water activity values. Sucrose content did not influence on Tg.