Salting and slight drying as combination pretreatments to alleviate quality alteration of raw grass carp fillets after high pressure processing

ABSTRACT High pressure can induce significant sensory quality changes in fish. Considering the important role of raw attributes in ready-to-eat aquatic products, our study thus focused on combination treatments prior to pressurization, to maintain grass carp quality. Fish fillets with or without salting and/or slight drying were pressurized under 0.1, 300, 400, and 500 MPa for 10 min. Microbiological, sensorial, and chemical analyses were performed to assess fish quality. The salting and slight drying combination have synergistic impacts on alleviation of fish quality changes after pressurization, e.g. muscle semi-transparency, lower lightness, and stronger water-holding capacity. This could be associated with enhanced fibrous interconnection and protein structure (less decrease of α-helix contents, less amino acid residue exposures). By contrast, fillets without pretreatments, or after single salting or drying process, had unfavorable quality alterations after pressurization. Therefore, appropriate means for developing novel ready-to-eat products can be carried out by targeting pressure-sensitive aquatic foods.