Evaluation of some physico-chemical properties of restructured trout and hake mince during cold gelation and chilled storage

Cold gelation was carried out on trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) or on hake (Merluccius merluccius) mince with or without addition of fish oil and using microbial transglutaminase (MTGase). Products were stored at 4 °C for 6 days and lipid oxidation, protein oxidation, texture, water binding capacity, and colour were followed. Results indicated that MTGase was able to generate gels with good properties for both trout and hake. Gels prepared with trout were oxidised whilst gels prepared with hake were stable toward oxidation even in the presence of 5% fish oil. However, in the presence of oil, as an alternative for generating omega-3 enriched products, the activity of MTGase was impaired, as the gels took longer to reach maximum hardness. Furthermore, in all samples containing MTGase, protein oxidation was high.