Journal of Food Engineering 82 (2007) 128–134

www.elsevier.com/locate/jfoodeng

Gelling properties and lipid oxidation of kamaboko gels from grass

carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) influenced by chitosan
Linchun Mao *, Tao Wu
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Biosystem Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310029, China

Received 6 December 2006; received in revised form 17 January 2007; accepted 21 January 2007
Available online 4 February 2007

Abstract

Chitosan was applied to kamaboko gels made from grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus), and the correlative influences on gelling
quality and lipid oxidation were evaluated by color, texture, expressible water, TBA (2-thiobarbituric acid) and peroxide values. White-
ness, hardness, springiness, cohesiveness, chewiness, adhesiveness, TBA value increased, while expressible water and peroxide value
decreased when 1% chitosan was added in gels. Addition with 1% chitosan was considered as a promising approach in the processing
of grass carp gels to improve thermal gelling properties and delay lipid oxidation.
Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Chitosan; Grass carp; Kamaboko gel; Gelling property; Lipid oxidation

1. Introduction effects. But they are fairly susceptible to oxidation, leading

Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) is one of the main
freshwater fish species in China. The potential of this fish as
a source of low fat, high protein food has not yet been fully
utilized due to the limited processing, distribution sphere
and storage period. Surimi is a high quality myofibrillar
protein concentrate that obtained from fish muscle, with
high commercial value and extensive application in seafood
production. Therefore, surimi processing is the effective
way to utilize those fish species with low commercial value.
Functional properties such as color and texture are the
major factors responsible for the final acceptance of sur-
imi-based products by consumers. When high quality sur-
imi is the predominant component of a surimi-based
product, the resulting texture tends to be rubbery (Lee,
Wu, & Okada, 1992). Another restriction of surimi prod-
ucts is the oxidation of lipid. Fish lipids are well known
to have a high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids, such
as eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid
(DHA) which have health promotion and cardiovascular
*
Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +86 571 86091584.
E-mail address: linchun@zju.edu.cn (L. Mao).
to a number of complex chemical changes that eventually
give rise to the development of off-flavors, as well as the
generation of harmful oxidation products (Fritsche &
Johnston, 1988; Hsieh & Kinsella, 1989; Shahidi, 1998).
To better suit the textural and healthy preferences of con-
sumers, natural ingredients is commonly added to surimi,
to improve the functional properties and inhibit lipid oxi-
dation of surimi products (Lee et al., 1992; Lee, Lee,
Chung, & Lavery, 1992).
Protein–carbohydrate interactions affects the functional
properties in foods such as solubility, surface activity, con-
formational stability, gel forming ability, emulsifying and
foaming properties, where proteins are the major ingredi-
ents, such as meat and fish processed products (Chin, Kee-
ton, Longnecker, & Lamkey, 1998). Some biopolymers
such as starch (Kim & Lee, 1987) and cellulose (Yoon &
Lee, 1990) have been reported to contribute to surimi gel
properties. Chitosan is a low-acetyl-substituted form of
chitin, which has been reported to have a number of func-
tional properties that make it technically and physiologi-
cally useful as a kind of dietary fibre (Shahidi, Arachchi,
& Jeon, 1999; Jeon, Kamil, & Shahidi, 2002; Borderı́as,
Sánchez-Alonso, & Pérez-Mateos, 2005). There have been

0260-8774/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2007.01.015
 L. Mao, T. Wu / Journal of Food Engineering 82 (2007) 128–134 129

a few studies describing addition of chitosan to tofu (Kim
& Han, 2002), meat products (Jo, Lee, Lee, & Byun, 2001;
Lin & Chao, 2001; Sagoo, Board, & Roller, 2002) and fish
muscle (Kataoka, Ishizaki, & Tanaka, 1998; Benjakul
et al., 2000; Benjakul, Visessanguan, Phatchrat, & Tanaka,
2003; Kamil, Jeon, & Shahidi, 2002). A number of studies
(Kamil et al., 2002; Shahidi, Kamil, Jeon, & Kim, 2002;
Gómez-Guillén, Montero, Solas, & Pérez-Mateos, 2005)
report that chitosan inhibits lipid oxidation, and that this
inhibition is dependent on concentration and type of chito-
san (different viscosity or molecular weight). As a natural
polysaccharide material with texturizing properties (Benja-
kul et al., 2003), antioxidant activity (Kamil et al., 2002;
Lin & Chou, 2004; Kim & Thomas, 2007) and antibacterial
properties (Chung, Wang, Chen, & Li, 2003), chitosan
therefore appears to be a promising use in fish surimi prod-
ucts to improve gelling properties and prevent lipid
oxidation.
The objective of this study was to investigate the effects
of chitosan with different molecular weights and concentra-
tions on the gelling properties and inhibition of lipid oxida-
tion of kamaboko gels prepared from grass carp.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Surimi and chemicals
Fresh grass carp (C. idellus) was obtained from a fish
market in Hangzhou, China. Fifty fresh fishes (ca.
50 kg) were washed and kept in ice until processing. Sur-
imi was obtained after fishes were headed, gutted, and
washed in cold water (below 10 °C), removing skin and
bones. After dewatering with cheesecloth as filtering mate-
rial, surimi was mixed with 8% sucrose as cryoprotectant,
then packed into polyethylene bags (2 kg each), frozen at
70 °C in a ultra freezer (Forma Scientific R404A, USA)
for 5 h and stored at 20 °C until needed. Commercial
chitosans (MW 300 kDa and MW 10 kDa, 95% deacetyla-
tion) were obtained from Dingguo Bio-Technology Com-
pany (Hangzhou, China). All other chemicals used were
of analytical grade and supplied by Sigma Company
(Sigma Co., USA).
2.2. Preparation of kamaboko gels
Formulations of kamaboko gels are shown in Table 1.
The frozen surimi was partially thawed at room tempera-
ture for approximately 2 h before being cut into 4 cm
cubes. Surimi cubes were chopped for several minutes.
First, salt (2%) was added and the mixture was chopped
for 1.5 min, and then ice water was added and the mixture
was chopped for 1 min, forming a very viscous and tacky
paste. Starch (4%) and dried egg white (1%) were added
and the mixture was chopped for another 4 min, then dif-
ferent chitosans (MW 300 kDa, MW 10 kDa, 1:1 mixture
of MW 300 kDa and MW 10 kDa chitosans) were dis-
persed with a little 1% acetic acid and added to the mixture.
The final concentrations of chitosan were 0.5% and 1%,
respectively. The MW 300 kDa chitosan was described as
relative high molecular weight chitosan (HC), the MW
10 kDa chitosan was described as relative low molecular
weight chitosan (LC), their 1:1 mixture was described as
HC + LC. All formulations were standardized at 78%
moisture, 22% solids and 2% NaCl (Park, 2000). Gels with-
out chitosan were served as control.
The chopping procedure was carried out in a cool
room (4 °C) to keep the paste below 8 °C. The mixture
was extruded into plastic tubes (25 mm diameter,
120 mm length) where both ends were plugged with rub-
ber pistons. The interior wall of the tubes was coated with
a film of vegetable oil to prevent gel adhesion. The gel
was cooked in a water bath at 90 °C for 20 min after set-
ting at 25 °C for 3 h. After heating, surimi mixture
became stronger and non-transparent gel, called kam-
aboko gel (Benjakul et al., 2000), which were removed
from the tubes and stored at 4 °C in polystyrene bags,
prior to measurements.
2.3. Proximate analysis
Moisture, ash, and crude protein (N  6.25) were
assayed as described by AOAC (1995). Lipid content was
determined as described by Folch, Lee, and Sloane-Stanley
(1957). The proximate analysis was based on the muscle of
fresh grass carp.

Table 1
Experimental formula (grams) of kamaboko gels from grass carp
Ingredients Control 0.5% HC 1% HC 0.5% LC 1% LC 0.5% HC + LC 1% HC + LC
Surimi 675 660 635 660 635 660 635
Ice water 255 265 285 265 285 265 285
NaCl 20 20 20 20 20 20 20
Egg white 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
Starch 40 40 40 40 40 40 40
HC 0 5 10 0 0 2.5 5
LC 0 0 0 5 10 2.5 5
Total 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000
HC: 300 kDa chitosan (high molecular weight chitosan); LC: 10 kDa chitosan (low molecular weight chitosan); HC + LC: mixture of HC and LC (1:1, w/
w). All formulations were standardized at 78% water and 22% solids.
130 L. Mao, T. Wu / Journal of Food Engineering 82 (2007) 128–134
2.4. Color measurement
Color measurements of gels were performed in a color
meter (SPSIC WSC-S, China) at ambient temperature.
The equipment was standardized with a standard-white
reflection plate. The most important color parameter in
surimi gels is whiteness, which was calculated using the for-
mula: W = L – 3b, where L is the lightness from black to
white, b is the scale from yellow to blue (Park, 1994).
2.5. Texture profile analysis
Texture profile analysis (TPA) of gels was performed at
ambient temperature with a TA-XT2i Texture Analyser
(SMS, UK) and a 25 kg load cell. The Texture Expert
Exceed version 1.22 computer program by Stable Micro
System was used for data collection and calculation. Gels
were cut in cylinders of 25 mm diameter  25 mm length.
Each cylinder was compressed axially in two consecutive
cycles of 25% compression, 5 s apart, with a flat plunger
50 mm in diameter (SMS-P/50). The cross-head moved at
a constant speed of 1 mm/s. From the TPA curves, the fol-
lowing texture parameters were obtained: hardness at 25%
of deformation, springiness, cohesiveness, adhesiveness,
and chewiness (Pons, 1996).
2.6. Expressible water
The amount of expressible water (EW) for each treat-
ment was measured. Samples of 3 g (±0.2 g) of fish gels
were weighed and put between two layers of filter paper.
Samples were placed at the bottom of 50 ml centrifuge
tubes and centrifuged at 1000g for 15 min at 15 °C (Uresti,
Ramı́rez, López-Arias, & Vázquez, 2003). Immediately
after centrifugation, the fish gel samples were weighed
and the EW was calculated as: expressible water
(%) = (Wi Wf)/Wi  100, where Wi is the initial weight
of gel, Wf is the final weight of gel.
2.7. TBA test
Method was based on Gomes, Silva, Nascimento, and
Fukuma (2003). The TBA (2-thiobarbituric acid) solution
was prepared by weighing 0.3 g of TBA and transferring
in a 100 ml beaker with 90 ml distilled water. The beaker
was placed in a water bath (80 °C) until complete dissolu-
tion. The solution was then quantitatively transferred to
a 100 ml volumetric flask and the volume completed with
distilled water so as to achieve a 0.021 M TBA solution.
Minced sample (50 g) was blended after the addition of
6 ml of ethanolic solution of butylated hydroxytoluene
(BHT, 1 g/l) to prevent autoxidation. Aliquots of homoge-
nized sample (10 g) were transferred to a flat-bottomed
flask and one drop of silicone anti-foaming agent added
plus 2.5 ml of 4 N HCl and 97.5 ml of distilled water. This
sample was then distilled and the first 50 ml of distillate
collected. Distillation was carried out in triplicate. Then
5 ml of the distillate plus 0.6 ml of BHT (1 g/l) were added
to 5 ml of 0.021 M TBA solution into a screw-cap test tube
and heated in a water bath (90 °C) for 40 min for pink
color development. The test tube was then cooled and the
optical density was determined at 532 nm on a spectropho-
tometer (Spectrum-cn 722E, China) using control solution
containing 5 ml distilled water, 5 ml TBA solution and
0.6 ml BHT. TBA values were expressed as mg of malondi-
aldehyde (MDA) per kg of sample. The concentration of
MDA was calculated from a standard curve using
1,1,3,3-tetraethoxy-propane (TEP) as the standard
compound.
2.8. Peroxide value
Gel samples (0.5 g) were mixed with 25 ml of a solution
of glacial acetic acid and chloroform (3:2 v/v) in a conical
flask, and then 1 ml of saturated potassium iodide was
added. The mixture was kept in the dark for about
10 min, and then 30 ml of distilled water and 1 ml of freshly
prepared 1% starch were added. After shaking, the samples
were titrated with 0.01 M sodium thiosulfate. The peroxide
values were expressed in units of meq/kg of sample (Egan,
Kirk, & Sawyer, 1981).
2.9. Statistical analysis
All analyses were run in triplicate for each replicate
(n = 2  3). Results are reported as mean values of six
determinations ± standard deviation (SD). Analysis of var-
iance was performed by ANOVA procedures (SPSS 12.0
for Windows). Differences among the mean values of the
various treatments and storage periods were determined
by the least significant difference (LSD) test, and the signif-
icance was defined at P < 0.05.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Proximate composition of grass carp muscle
Proximate analysis showed that grass carp muscle con-
tains 18.95 ± 0.53% total protein, 77.57 ± 0.37% moisture,
1.83 ± 0.12% total lipid, and 1.19 ± 0.09% ash. Grass carp
muscle has a low lipid, intermediate protein, and high
moisture content, similar to previous reports (Bakir, Mel-
ton, & Wilson, 1993).
3.2. Gel color
Color measurements of grass carp gels were shown in
Table 2. Gels with chitosan exhibited higher L (80.08–
83.68) than that of control (78.33) (P < 0.05). Significant
differences of L values between gels containing high molec-
ular weight chitosan (HC) or low molecular weight chito-
san (LC) were not observed. However, L value increased
significantly in gels when the mixture of high molecular
weight chitosan and low molecular weight chitosan
 L. Mao, T. Wu / Journal of Food Engineering 82 (2007) 128–134 131

Table 2
Color parameters of grass carp gels with or without chitosan
Chitosan Chitosan levels (%) Lightness (L) Yellowness (b) Whiteness (W)
Control 0 78.33 ± 0.52c 4.84 ± 0.11a 63.81 ± 0.69d
HC 0.5 80.19 ± 0.71b 4.56 ± 0.09b 66.51 ± 0.72c
1 80.08 ± 0.69b 4.51 ± 0.11b 66.54 ± 0.87c
LC 0.5 80.35 ± 0.54b 4.18 ± 0.10c 67.81 ± 0.78b
1 80.11 ± 0.34b 4.17 ± 0.13c 67.60 ± 0.63b
HC + LC 0.5 83.29 ± 0.81a 3.83 ± 0.13d 71.79 ± 0.90a
1 83.68 ± 0.65a 3.81 ± 0.10d 72.26 ± 0.75a
HC: 300 kDa chitosan (high molecular weight chitosan); LC: 10 kDa chitosan (low molecular weight chitosan); HC + LC: mixture of HC and LC (1:1, w/
w). Means in columns followed by different letters are statistically different using LSD (a = 0.05).

(HC + LC) was added (P < 0.05). The concentration of
chitosan had no obvious effect on the lightness of gels. Yel-
lowness (b) of gels decreased by the addition of chitosan,
especially HC + LC (P < 0.05). The concentration of chito-
san had no significant influence on yellowness of gels. The
whiteness of grass carp gels varied from 63.81 to 72.26, and
was improved by adding chitosan (P < 0.05). Difference in
whiteness was also found within different molecular
weights chitosan (P < 0.05). Gels containing HC + LC
exhibited the highest whiteness.
Generally, gels with high lightness, low yellowness and
high whiteness are highly demanded by consumers (Hsu
& Chiang, 2002). This study confirmed that addition of
chitosan improved the gel color. Rearrangement and inter-
action of water, protein and polysaccharide molecules
caused by the addition of chitosan could be the responsible
for this improvement. The chitosan–chitosan interaction
and protein–chitosan covalent crosslinking seems to mod-
ify the gel network, exhibiting a more lustrous and trans-
parent appearance, and thus modifying the lightness of
fish gels.
3.3. Textural properties
Texture parameters including hardness, chewiness,
springiness, cohesiveness, and adhesiveness were shown in
Table 3. Addition of chitosan improved hardness and
chewiness, with higher hardness and chewiness of HC or
HC + LC than LC (P < 0.05). Concentration of chitosan
had a significant effect on the hardness of gels in all treat-
ments (P < 0.05), when concentration increased from 0.5%
to 1%. Grass carp gels had high springiness values. After
the first compression, they almost recovered their original
height, a typical characteristic of viscoelastic materials.
At the concentration of 0.5%, chitosan showed no signifi-
cant effect on the springiness value of fish gels when com-
pared with that of control except HC. When the
concentration of chitosan increased to 1%, springiness
increased significantly (P < 0.05). Exhibition of cohesive-
ness was very close to that of springiness, only when the
concentration of chitosan at 1%, cohesiveness of gels with
chitosan was higher than that of gels without chitosan
(P < 0.05), regardless of different type of chitosan. Adhe-
siveness values were significantly higher in gels containing
LC or HC + LC than gels without chitosan (P < 0.05).
There is no significant difference between the adhesiveness
values of gels with different concentrations of chitosan.
Influences of chitosan on texture of fish gels observed in
this study were similar as previous reports in walleye pollock
(Kataoka et al., 1998) and barred garfish (Benjakul et al.,
2000; Benjakul et al., 2003). In the presence of chitosan, pro-
tein–polysaccharide conjugates would be formed between
the reactive amino group of glucosamine and the glutaminyl
residue of myofibrillar proteins. Bonds between chitosan
and myofibrillar proteins could be associated with improv-
ing of texture properties in gels with the final structure

Table 3
Texture parameters of grass carp gels with or without chitosan
Chitosan Chitosan levels (%) Hardness Springiness Cohesivene Chewiness Adhesiveness
Control 0 601 ± 19f 0.94 ± 0.02c 0.86 ± 0.01b 483 ± 20e 25.3 ± 5.2c
HC 0.5 857 ± 22b 0.96 ± 0.01b 0.86 ± 0.01b 700 ± 23b 33.3 ± 6.7d
1 898 ± 26a 0.99 ± 0.01a 0.91 ± 0.01a 804 ± 32a 34.7 ± 7.2d
LC 0.5 681 ± 23e 0.95 ± 0.01bc 0.86 ± 0.02b 559 ± 37d 17.4 ± 4.2b
1 811 ± 21c 0.98 ± 0.01a 0.92 ± 0.01a 725 ± 23b 18.1 ± 4.6b
HC + LC 0.5 761 ± 24d 0.95 ± 0.01bc 0.87 ± 0.02b 633 ± 29c 6.1 ± 1.3a
1 887 ± 27a 0.99 ± 0.01a 0.92 ± 0.01a 808 ± 32a 5.5 ± 1.1a
HC: 300 kDa chitosan (high molecular weight chitosan); LC: 10 kDa chitosan (low molecular weight chitosan); HC + LC: mixture of HC and LC (1:1, w/
w). Values in the same column followed by a different letter are significantly different (P < 0.05).
132 L. Mao, T. Wu / Journal of Food Engineering 82 (2007) 128–134

formed by both covalent and non-covalent interactions. The 1.4

effect would be also reportedly due to modification of the 1.2

TBA (mg MDA/kg)

activity of the endogenous transglutaminase partly (Kat-
aoka et al., 1998; Benjakul et al., 2000).
3.4. Expressible water
Content of extracted water is inversely associated with
the water holding capacity. Control product showed
13.56% expressible water (Table 4). Adding 0.5% chitosan
did not decrease the amount of expressible water in gels.
When 1% chitosan was added, a significantly decrease on
the amount of expressible water was observed (P < 0.05),
indicating that 1% chitosan improves the water holding
capacity of restructured products. However, there were
no differences between HC, LC and HC + LC. These
results suggest that during the gelling of fish surimi con-
taining chitosan, an increase of chitosan–water interactions
might be induced.
3.5. TBA and peroxide values
Lipid oxidation, corresponding to the oxidative deterio-
ration of polyunsaturated fatty acids in fish muscle, leads
to the production of off-flavors and off-odors, thereby
shortening the shelf-life of food (Ramanathan & Das,
1992). The TBA value and peroxide value are both well-
established methods for determining oxidation products
(Kulas & Ackman, 2001).
There were significant differences (P < 0.05) in the TBA
values between the control and samples added with 1%
chitosan, with contents of 0.184, 0.135, 0.095 and
0.114 mg MDA/kg in the control, 1%HC gels, 1%LC gels
and 1%HC + LC gels, respectively (Fig. 1). After 15 days
of storage, TBA values in the control, HC gels, LC gels
and HC + LC gels increased to 1.181, 0.609, 0.352 and
0.424 mg MDA/kg, respectively (Fig. 1). TBA values of
samples without chitosan were significantly higher than
those with chitosan (P < 0.05).
Peroxide values of samples with chitosan were signifi-
cantly lower than that of control (P < 0.05). Changes of
0 day 15 days
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
Control HC LC HC+LC
Fig. 1. Thiobarbituric acid (TBA) values of grass carp gels stored at 4 °C
for 0 and 15 days. Gels added with 1% 300 kDa chitosan (HC), 1% 10 kDa
chitosan (LC), 1% mixture of HC and LC chitosans (HC + LC) or without
chitosan (control).
peroxide values were similar to TBA values, with contents
of 1.01, 0.79, 0.61 and 0.65 meq/kg in the control, 1%HC,
1%LC and 1%HC + LC gels, respectively (Fig. 2). After 15
days of storage, TBA values in the control, HC gels, LC
gels and HC + LC gels increased to 13.56, 8.98, 5.23 and
7.62 meq/kg, respectively (Fig. 2). As compared with the
different molecular weight chitosans, inhibitory effect on
lipid oxidation was as follows: 10 kDa chito-
san > 300 kDa + 10 kDa chitosan > 300 kDa chitosan.
This observation is indicative of the inhibitory effect on
lipid oxidation in grass carp gels by chitosan, and this effect
seems to have relations with its molecular weight. The
results of our study are in agreement with those of Kamil
et al. (2002) who found that among the different molecular
weight chitosans, chitosan of lower molecular weight was
more effective than the higher molecular weight chitosans
in preventing lipid oxidation.
Antioxidant activities of different molecular weights of
chitosan in grass carp gels may be attributed to their
metal-binding capacities. Several sources of protein-bound
iron exist in fish tissues, the iron bound to these proteins
may be released during gel formation and storage, thus
activating oxygen and initiating lipid oxidation (St.
Angelo, 1996). Chitosan may retard lipid oxidation by che-
lating ferrous ions present in the system, thus eliminating
their peroxidant activity or their conversion to ferric ion.

Table 4
Expressible water of grass carp gels with or without chitosan 16
Peroxide value (meq/kg)

Chitosan Chitosan levels (%) Expressible water (%) 14 0 day 15 days

12
Control 0 13.56 ± 0.83b
10
HC 0.5 13.76 ± 0.73ab 8
1 6.58 ± 0.68c
6
LC 0.5 14.63 ± 0.88a 4
1 7.27 ± 0.92c
2
HC + LC 0.5 13.49 ± 0.81b 0
1 6.44 ± 0.90c Control HC LC HC+LC
HC: 300 kDa chitosan (high molecular weight chitosan); LC: 10 kDa Fig. 2. Peroxide values of grass carp gels stored at 4 °C for 0 and 15 days.
chitosan (low molecular weight chitosan); HC + LC: mixture of HC and Gels added with 1% 300 kDa chitosan (HC), 1% 10 kDa chitosan (LC),
LC (1:1, w/w). Means in columns followed by different letters are statis- 1% mixture of HC and LC chitosans (HC + LC) or without chitosan
tically different using LSD (a = 0.05). (control).
 L. Mao, T. Wu / Journal of Food Engineering 82 (2007) 128–134
Furthermore, amino groups in chitosan may participate in
the chelation of metal ions (Peng, Wang, & Tang, 1998;
Xue, Yu, Hirat, Terao, & Lin, 1998). The varying antioxi-
dant effect of chitosan may be attributed to the difference
of molecular weight which determine the chelation of metal
ions. In their charged state, the cationic amino groups of
chitosan impart intramolecular electric repulsive forces,
which increase the hydrodynamic volume by extended
chain conformation (Anthonsen, Varum, & Smidsrod,
1993). Perhaps this phenomenon may be responsible for
lesser chelation by high molecular weight chitosan. Furda
(1990) has reported that the degree of polymerization of
the glucosamine unit is a major factor determining the vis-
cosity of chitosan. Thus the degree of deacetylation is
another factor that may be involved in chelaton ability of
chitosan.
4. Conclusions
Chitosan could improve thermal gelling properties and
prevent lipid oxidation of kamaboko gels from grass carp.
Addition of chitosan improves gel color and texture with
high whiteness and lightness, low yellowness, and high
hardness and chewiness. When 1% chitosan is added,
expressible water was significantly reduced. Chitosan of
low molecular weight is more effective in preventing lipid
oxidation than that of high molecular weight. Addition
of 300 kDa chitosan or 10 kDa chitosan, at a level of
0.5–1%, would be considered as a promising approach in
the preparation of grass carp gels for improving texture
and stabilizing color and lipid to prolong shelf life. The
present study should provide a possible application of
chitosan as a food additive to surimi food systems.
References
Anthonsen, M. W., Varum, K. M., & Smidsrod, O. (1993). Solution
properties of chitosans: conformation and chain stiffness of chitosans
with different degrees of N-acetylation. Carbohydrate Research, 22,
193–201.
AOAC (1995). Offcial methods of analysis of the association of the offcial
analysis chemists (16th ed.). Arlington: Association of Offcial Analyt-
ical Chemists.
Bakir, H. M., Melton, S. L., & Wilson, J. L. (1993). Fatty acid
composition, lipids and sensory characteristics of white amur (Ctne-
pharyngodon idella) fed different diets. Journal of Food Science, 58(1),
90–95.
Benjakul, S., Visessanguan, W., Phatchrat, S., & Tanaka, M. (2003).
Chitosan affects transglutaminase-induced surimi gelation. Journal of
Food Biochemistry, 27(1), 53–66.
Benjakul, S., Visessanguan, W., Tanaka, M., Ishizaki, S., Suthidham, R.,
& Sungpech, O. (2000). Effect of chitin and chitosan on gelling
properties of surimi from barred garfish (Hemiramphus far). Journal of
the Science of Food and Agriculture, 81(1), 102–108.
Borderı́as, A. J., Sánchez-Alonso, I., & Pérez-Mateos, M. (2005). New
applications of fibres in foods: addition to fishery products. Trends in
Food Science & Technology, 16, 458–465.
Chin, K. B., Keeton, J. T., Longnecker, M. T., & Lamkey, J. W. (1998).
Functional, textural and microstructural properties of low-fat bologna
(model system) with a konjac blend. Journal of Food Science, 63(5),
801–807.
133
Chung, Y. C., Wang, H. L., Chen, Y. M., & Li, S. L. (2003). Effect of
abiotic factors on the antibacterial activity of chitosan against
waterborne pathogens. Bioresource Technology, 88(6), 179–184.
Egan, H., Kirk, R. S., & Sawyer, R. (1981). Pearson’s chemical analysis of
foods. Edinburgh, UK: Churchil Livingstone, pp. 535–536.
Folch, J., Lee, M., & Sloane-Stanley, G. H. (1957). A simple method for
the isolation and purification of total lipids from animal tissues.
Journal of Biological Chemistry, 226(1), 497–509.
Fritsche, K. L., & Johnston, P. V. (1988). Rapid autoxidation of fish oil in
diets without added antioxidants. The Journal of nutrition, 118(4),
425–426.
Furda, I. (1990). Interaction of dietary fiber with lipids-mechanistic
theories and their limitations. In I. Furda & C. J. Brine (Eds.). New
developments in dietary fiber: physiological, physicochemical and ana-
lytical aspects, advances in experimental medicine and biology (Vol. 270,
pp. 67–82). New York: Plenum Press.
Gomes, H. A., Silva, E. N., Nascimento, M. R. L., & Fukuma, H. T.
(2003). Evaluation of the 2-thiobarbituric acid method for the
measurement of lipid oxidation in mechanically deboned gamma
irradiated chicken meat. Food Chemistry, 80(3), 433–437.
Gómez-Guillén, M. C., Montero, P., Solas, M. T., & Pérez-Mateos, M.
(2005). Effect of chitosan and microbial transglutaminase on the gel
forming ability of horse mackerel (Trachurus spp.) muscle under high
pressure. Food Research International, 38, 103–110.
Hsieh, R. J., & Kinsella, J. E. (1989). Oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty
acids: mechanisms, products, and inhibition with emphasis on fish.
Advances in Food and Nutrition Research, 33, 233–341.
Hsu, K. C., & Chiang, B. H. (2002). Effects of water, oil, starch, calcium
carbonate and titanium dioxide on the colour and texture of threadfin
and hairtail surimi gels. International Journal Food Science and
Technology, 37(4), 387–393.
Jeon, Y. J., Kamil, J. Y. V. A., & Shahidi, F. (2002). Chitosan as an edible
invisible film for quality preservation of herring and Atlantic cod.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 50(18), 5167–5178.
Jo, C., Lee, J. W., Lee, K. H., & Byun, M. W. (2001). Quality properties of
pork sausage prepared with water-soluble chitosan oligomer. Meat
Science, 59(4), 369–375.
Kamil, J. Y. V. A., Jeon, Y. J., & Shahidi, F. (2002). Antioxidative activity
of chitosans of different viscosity in cooked comminuted flesh of
herring (Clupea harengus). Food Chemistry, 79(1), 69–77.
Kataoka, J., Ishizaki, S., & Tanaka, M. (1998). Effects of chitosan on
gelling properties of low quality surimi. Journal of Muscle Foods, 9(3),
209–220.
Kim, M., & Han, J. (2002). Evaluation of physico-chemical characteristics
and microstucture of tofu containing high viscosity chitosan. Interna-
tional Journal of Food Science and Technology, 37(3), 277–283.
Kim, J. M., & Lee, C. M. (1987). Effect of starch of textural properties of
surimi gel. Journal of Food Science, 52(3), 722–725.
Kim, K. W., & Thomas, R. L. (2007). Antioxidative activity of chitosans
with varying molecular weights. Food Chemistry, 101(1), 308–313.
Kulas, E., & Ackman, G. (2001). Different tocopherols and the relation-
ship between two methods for determination of primary oxidation
products in fish oil. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 49(4),
1724–1729.
Lee, H. G., Lee, C. M., Chung, K. H., & Lavery, S. A. (1992). Sodium
ascorbate affects surimi gel forming properties. Journal of Food
Science, 57, 1343–1347.
Lee, C. M., Wu, M. C., & Okada, M. (1992). Ingredient and formulation
technology for surimi based products. In T. C. Lanier & C. M. Lee
(Eds.), Surimi technology (pp. 273–302). New York: Marcel Dekker.
Lin, K. W., & Chao, J. Y. (2001). Quality characteristics of reduced-fat
Chinese-style sausages as related to chitosan’s molecular weight. Meat
Science, 59(4), 343–351.
Lin, H. Y., & Chou, C. C. (2004). Antioxidative activities of water-soluble
disaccharide chitosan derivatives. Food Research International, 37(9),
883–889.
Park, J. W. (1994). Functional protein additives in surimi gels. Journal of
Food Science, 59(3), 525–527.
134 L. Mao, T. Wu / Journal of Food Engineering 82 (2007) 128–134
Park, J. W. (2000). Ingredient technology and formulation development.
In J. W. Park (Ed.), Surimi and surimi seafood (pp. 343–391). New
York: Marcel Dekker.
Peng, C., Wang, Y., & Tang, Y. (1998). Synthesis of crosslinked chitosan–
crown ethers and evaluation of these products as adsorbents for metal
ions. Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 70, 501–506.
Pons, M. (1996). Instrumental texture profile analysis with particular
reference to gelled systems. J Journal of Texture Studies, 27(6),
597–624.
Ramanathan, L., & Das, N. P. (1992). Studies on the control of lipid
oxidation in ground fish by some polyphenolic natural products.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 40, 17–21.
Sagoo, S., Board, R., & Roller, S. (2002). Chitosan inhibits growth of
spoilage micro-organisms in chilled pork products. Food Microbiology,
19, 175–182.
Shahidi, F. (1998). Assessment of lipid oxidation and off-flavour devel-
opment in meat, meat products and seafoods. In F. Shahidi (Ed.),
Flavour of meat, meat products and seafoods (pp. 373–394). London,
UK: Blackie Academic and Professional.
Shahidi, F., Arachchi, J. K. V., & Jeon, Y. J. (1999). Food applications of
chitin and chitosans. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 10(2),
37–51.
Shahidi, F., Kamil, J., Jeon, Y. J., & Kim, S. K. (2002). Antioxidant role
of chitosan in a cooked cod (Gadus morhua) model system. Journal of
Food Lipids, 9(1), 57–64.
St. Angelo, A. J. (1996). Lipid oxidation in foods. CRC Critical Reviews in
Food Science and Nutrition, 36(3), 175–224.
Uresti, R. M., Ramı́rez, J. A., López-Arias, N., & Vázquez, M. (2003).
Negative effect of combining microbial transglutaminase with low
methoxyl pectins on the mechanical properties and colour attributes of
fish gels. Food Chemistry, 80(4), 551–556.
Xue, C., Yu, G., Hirat, T., Terao, J., & Lin, H. (1998). Antioxidative
activities of several marine polysaccharides evaluated in a phospha-
tidylcholine–liposomal suspension and organic solvents. Bioscience,
Biotechnology and Biochemistry, 62(2), 206–209.
Yoon, K. S., & Lee, C. M. (1990). Effect of powdered cellulose on the
texture and freeze–thaw stability of surimi-based shellfish analog
products. Journal of Food Science, 55(1), 87–91.