Combined effect of pH and heating conditions on the physical properties of Alaska pollock surimi gels.

Physical properties of Alaska pollock surimi paste were investigated as affected by pH (4.0 and 6.0-10.0) and heating conditions (slow and fast). The highest values of gel strength and deformability, as shown by breaking force and penetration distance, were obtained at pH 7.5-8.0, while the lowest values were at pH 10.0 followed by pH 6.0 and pH 6.5, respectively. Two-step slow heating process increased the breaking strength value nearly two times higher than one-step fast heating. The effect of pH was strikingly high at pH 7.5 when gels were prepared using 2-step heating, indicating the pH dependence of endogenous transglutaminase. However, the highest gel strength was obtained at pH 8.0 when gels were prepared in fast heating. Whiteness value (L - 3b*) increased significantly (p < .05) as pH increased from 6.0 to 6.5, but thereafter decreased significantly (p < .05) as pH increased. L* value (lightness) and b* value (yellowness) continuously decreased as the pH is shifted from 6.0 to 10. Fast heated gels showed the lowest yellowness, resulting in whiter appearance, probably due to the effect of reduced browning reaction. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The uniqueness of this study was to measure the combined effect of pH and heating conditions on the gel texture and color. There were various studies dealing with pH or heating conditions independently. As the primary character for surimi seafood is gel texture and color. The highest values of gel strength and deformability, as shown by breaking force and penetration distance, were obtained at pH 7.5-8.0, while the lowest values were at pH 10.0 followed by pH 6.0 and pH 6.5, respectively. Two-step slow heating process increased the breaking strength value nearly two times higher than one-step fast heating. Whiteness value (L - 3b*) increased significantly as pH increased from 6.0 to 6.5, but thereafter decreased significantly as pH increased. L* value (lightness) and b* value (yellowness) continuously decreased as the pH is shifted from 6.0 to 10. Fast heated gels showed the lowest yellowness, resulting in whiter appearance.

Effects of the high pressure homogenization on the viability of yeast cell and volatile components in non-pasteurized rice wine.

This study investigated the effects of high pressure homogenization (HPH) to replace a thermal pasteurization on the yeast cell inactivation and the volatile components of rice wine (RW). By applying HPH (172 MPa with 5 passes), the yeast count was reduced over 4 log cycles. The inactivation of yeast cells by HPH and a thermal processing, i.e. Holder pasteurization (HP), was quantitatively analyzed. In terms of the inactivation of yeast cells, the HPH at 172 MPa with 5 passes was equivalent to the HP at 65°C for 3 min. In RW, 34 volatile components were identified, including 8 alcohols, 18 esters, 2 acids, 1 carbonyls, 3 hydrocarbons, and 2 miscellaneous. Fruity volatiles were found more in HPH samples while components having fatty and oily characters were more detected in HP treated samples.