Effect of Vacuum Treatment on Water Migration in Surimi Gel

Abstract

With the chub frozen surimi as experimental material, low-field nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to study the effect of vacuum (0.05, 0.07, and 0.09 Mpa) and temperature (35, 40, 45 °C) interaction on the changes in water distribution, state, and content during the process of surimi gel. The results showed that the gel strength and water state of the surimi were similar to those of the two-stage heating at a vacuum degree of 0.09 MPa and 45 °C for 60 min. From the angle of water migration during the transverse relaxation time T₂, it can be seen that under the interaction between the vacuum degree and the temperature, the surimi gel process has a similar tendency of change as the two-stage heated water state. The surimi gel water has two states, T₂₁ and T₂₂, when the vacuum degree is 0.05 Mpa at 35 °C; when it is 35 °C, the vacuum degree is 0.07 MPa, the water has one state of T₂₂₃; and when the vacuum degree is 0.09 Mpa at 45 °C, there are three states of water: T₂₁, T_22, and T₂₃. To sum up, the vacuum treatment conditions have a significant effect on the water state of the surimi gel process, which provides basic data for elucidation of the theory of induced surimi gel under vacuum treatment.