WO1993020720A1

WO1993020720A1 - Process for producing surimi of improved quality

Info

Publication number: WO1993020720A1
Application number: PCT/US1993/003420
Authority: WO
Inventors: Patricia Kamaras Manning
Original assignee: Oceantrawl, Inc.
Priority date: 1992-04-14
Filing date: 1993-04-13
Publication date: 1993-10-28
Also published as: AU4283593A

Abstract

A method for preparing surimi and particularly a frozen surimi of enhanced storage stability which comprises adding sugar and/or a sugar alcohol, polyphosphate, blood plasma and calcium caseinate to a washed and dewatered fish meat, blending and/or mincing the mixture and optionally refrigerating the mixture.

Description

PROCESS FOR PRODUCING SURIMI OF IMPROVED QUALITY

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENΗON

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to processes for producing a washed and dewatered minced fish meat, preferably refrigerated, (also referred to as "surimi" and "frozen surimi" respectively) and a cooked fish paste product (e.g., Kamaboko) which have improved quality, and particularly relates to a process for producing a frozen surimi that after prolonged storage exhibits improved elasticity and whiteness.

2. Description of Related Art

Generally, surimi is prepared from a variety of fish such as Alaska pollock, Pacific Whiting, Atka mackerel, Jack mackerel, Pacific mackerel, Atlantic mackerel and other mackerel, Croaker, cutlass fish, sharp-toothed sea eel, sardine, Arrowtooth flounder, shortbelly rockfish, pink salmon and other salmon, herring and saury pike. The fish is washed, beheaded and eviscerated, chopped, and passed through a roll-type separator to obtain minced fish meat. The minced fish meat is rinsed several times in water to remove water-soluble proteins, blood, entrails and other foreign matter, and then ultimately dewatered by, for example, a screw press or a centrifuge, to form a washed and dewatered fish meat. Generally, the washed minced fish meat is dewatered to about 80-90% by weight water, usually to 82-88% by weight.

To prevent denaturation of protein during refrigeration, a variety of ingredients are commonly added to the washed and dewatered fish meat including a sugar and/or a sugar alcohol, a polyphosphate, an edible surface-active agent, salt, etc. The mixture is blended and/or minced, and then frozen at a low temperature of less than - 25°C to produce frozen surimi. Frozen surimi is of two kinds, a salt-free surimi produced by adding sugar and polyphosphate to the dewatered meat and a salted surimi produced by adding sugar and salt to the dewatered meat. The former is now produced in greater quantities.

The amount of sugar added for cryoprotection is usually 3 to 10 % , and the larger the amount of sugar, the greater is the effect of preventing denaturation of protein during refrigeration. Too large an amount, however, results in an excessively sweet paste product, or in a reduced proportion of protein in the frozen surimi. Hence, amounts of sugar of more than 10% are seldom used. The polyphosphate has a water-holding effect as well as a protein denaturing preventing effect." If, however, a cooked fish paste product is prepared from surimi containing 0.4% or more of polyphosphate, a viscosity decrease, known as "sagging" in the trade, of the surimi occurs, and it is difficult to maintain the surimi in a definite shape. An addition of too large an amount of polyphosphate should therefore be avoided. Furthermore, if the refrigeration storage conditions are not strictly observed in the course of shipment and distribution, difficulties are frequently encountered including reduced elasticity in paste products made from the surimi and syneresis occurs when the frozen surimi is defrosted.

As the period of freezing becomes longer, it typically is difficult to maintain the quality of the frozen surimi, and particularly to maintain the gel-forming ability of the surimi in the making of "kamaboko", a kind of cooked fish paste product, at substantially the same level as that of a freshly produced, non-refrigerated surimi.

Ueno et al. U.S. 4,464,404 describes a process for producing a refrigerated surimi of improved quality in which a sugar and/or sugar alcohol and an animal protein, and specifically blood plasma and/or lactalbumin are added to washed minced fish meat prior to refrigeration or prior to forming a cooked fish paste product. In Kawana et al. 4,869,920 the use of blood plasma as a protein (enzyme) inhibitor, particularly for myxosporidian infected fish, such as Pacific Whiting, is described.

DESCRΠΎIQN OF THE INVENTION

The present inventor has found that by adding a combination of blood plasma and calcium caseinate, in addition to the standard cryoprotectant package, i.e. sugar and/or sugar alcohol and polyphosphate, to the washed and dewatered fish meat, and then blending and/or mincing the mixture there can be obtained surimi having a high quality which has much better elasticity (gel-forming ability) than conventional surimi. Further, when surimi made in accordance with the present invention is refrigerated, the surimi has a reduced tendency to undergo protein denaturation during refrigerated storage. Thus, the surimi continues to exhibit a high level of gel-forming ability and excellent whiteness.

Thus, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process for producing surimi, which comprises adding (a) sugar and/or a sugar alcohol, (b) polyphosphate, (c) blood plasma and (d) calcium caseinate to a washed and dewatered fish meat and blending and/or, mincing the mixture. According to another aspect, surimi made by blending and/or mixing the afore-mentioned additives with a washed and dewatered fish meat is refrigerated to produce a frozen surimi of improved storage stability.

Elasticity is an important factor for the quality of a cooked fish paste product, and to obtain a cooked fish paste product having good elasticity, it is most desirable to use surimi of high quality. In recent years, competition in the surimi industry has increased. Thus, processes which consistently can produce a high quality surimi from pollock and other fish effectively, including Alaska pollock, Pacific Whiting, Atka mackerel, Jack mackerel, Pacific mackerel, Atlantic mackerel and other mackerel, Croaker, cutlass fish, sharp-toothed sea eel, sardine, Arrowtooth flounder, shortbelly rockfish, pink salmon and other salmon, herring and saury pike are particularly desirable. There remains a demand for processes which result in an increase in the elasticity of a cooked fish paste product produced from surimi, and particularly from frozen surimi, and for processes which minimize any deterioration of surimi during frozen storage.

Using the process of the present invention surimi of increased elasticity is obtained and its deterioration during frozen storage is inhibited. Thus, this invention provides a process for improving the quality and storage stability of surimi and accordingly the invention provides a process which improves the quality of the cooked fish paste product produced therefrom. The invention comprises adding a combination of blood plasma and calcium caseinate to washed and dewatered fish meat containing the standard cryoprotectant adjuvants in the production of surimi and particularly frozen surimi for ultimate use in the cooked fish paste product.

Illustrative of the sugar added to the washed and dewatered fish meat in accordance with the process of this invention are sucrose, maltose, glucose, fructose and xylose. Examples of the sugar alcohol are sorbitol, mannitol and xylitol. These are used either singly or in combination in the form of a powder or liquid. The amount of sugar and or sugar alcohol (e.g., sucrose and/or sorbitol) should be in the range of about 2 to about 15%, and preferably is between about 3 to about 10%, based on the washed and dewatered fish (all percentages appearing in this specification are by weight, based on the weight of the washed and dewatered fish meat unless otherwise specified). Normally the sugar and sugar alcohol are both used, each in an amount of between about 3 to 5%, and especially at about 4%.

In addition to the sugar and/or sugar alcohol, about 0.1 to 0.5% of polyphosphate also is included to improve further the water-holding effect of surimi durable under refrigerated conditions and to increase the elasticity of kamaboko. The polyphosphate is added in a powder or liquid form to the sugar or sugar alcohol, or to the protein mixture, either as a pre-mixture or separately. Examples of suitable polyphosphates are sodium tripolyphosphate and sodium hexametaphosphate. Typically, sodium tripolyphosphate can be used in an amount of 0.3% by weight of the washed and dewatered fish meat. The amount of blood plasma (composed mainly of albumin and globulin) to be added to the washed and dewatered fish meat is about 0.1 to 3 % by weight, and preferably is about 0.2 to about 2% and is usually about 1 % by weight. The blood plasma is obtained from bovine, swine, chicken, etc. The calcium caseinate is added in an amount of 0.05 to 2.0%, generally between about 0.2 and 1.5%, and most often in an amount of 0.1 %. These proteins may be used in the form of a liquid or a dry powder, or an aqueous emulsion, suspension or solution. For ease of operation in the production of surimi and particularly when producing a frozen surimi, it is preferred to add a dry powder of blood plasma and calcium caseinate as a pre-mixture with the sugar and/or sugar alcohol and polyphosphate to the washed and dewatered fish meat. They may, however, be added separately.

The aforesaid additives are then mixed (i.e. blended and/or minced) with the washed and dewatered meat by using a mincer, cutter, blender, mixer, chopper or kneader. Particular vendors for these types of equipment are well-known to those skilled in the art. The surimi then can be used immediately for preparing a cooked fish paste product or can be refrigerated preferably at a temperature of less than -25 °C.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the fish meat obtained during the surimi process is conditioned in water containing a water soluble calcium salt or magnesium salt, preferably a water soluble magnesium salt, prior to dewatering for producing a washed and dewatered fish meat for blending and/or mincing in accordance with the present invention. According to the present invention, the fish meat is conditioned by using water containing a water soluble calcium salt and/or magnesium salt, at least in the washing steps, and preferably by including the water soluble calcium salt and/or magnesium salt in the water that contacts the fish meat at all points during its processing. Typically, the water contains the calcium and/or magnesium salt in a concentration of between about 60 and 2000 mg per liter. Preferred salts are the water soluble chlorides, sulfates, nitrates, acetates, lactates and the like. Usually, magnesium sulfate in an amount of about 300 to 600 mg/1 is used. According to the process of this invention, the quality of surimi can be markedly improved over other conventional processes.

The blood plasma to be added to the washed and dewatered, minced fish meat is composed mainly of albumin and globulin. It is obtained from bovine, swine, chicken, etc. The amount of the plasma to be added varies with the kind of fish, the quality and freshness of the washed and dewatered minced meat, but is usually added in an amount between about 0.1 to 3 % , preferably 0.2 to 2 % , by weight, based on the weight of the washed and dewatered fish meat. Larger amounts of plasma may be added, but sometimes leave a peculiar smell of protein. The plasma may be added in the form of a liquid or dry powder, or an aqueous emulsion, suspension or solution. In the present invention, the blood plasma is used in combination with calcium caseinate. When plasma and casein as dry powder are used, they are desirably pre-mixed with sugar and/or sugar alcohol, because the addition of such a pre-mixture to the fish meat creates a homogeneous dispersed condition within a short period of time. Of course, these additives may be added separately.

Cooked fish paste products can be produced in a customary manner from surimi, and especially from frozen surimi of the present invention except that the blood plasma and calcium caseinate are added to the washed and dewatered minced fish meat. Minced fish meat from various kinds of fish are used to produce the surimi. The invention is particularly useful in processing such fish species as Alaska pollock, Pacific Whiting, Atka mackerel, Jack mackerel, Pacific mackerel, Atlantic mackerel and other mackerel, Croaker, cutlass fish, sharp-toothed sea eel, sardine, Arrowtooth flounder, shortbelly rockfish, pink salmon and other salmon, herring and saury pike. The invention has particular advantage for use in producing surimi and especially frozen surimi from Pacific Whiting (Pacific Hake). Ordinary additives for the production of cooked fish paste products, such as salt, sugars, sugar alcohols, seasonings, and spices, may then be added to the surimi or the defrosted frozen surimi for making a "neriseihin" product.

The principles, preferred embodiments and modes of operation of the present invention have been described in the foregoing specification. The invention which is intended to be protected herein, however, is not to be construed as limited to the particular forms disclosed, since they are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. Variations and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Claims

CLAHMS

1. A method for preparing a high quality surimi which comprises adding (a) sugar and/or a sugar alcohol in an amount of between about 2 and 15 % by weight, (b) polyphosphate in an amount between about 0.1 and 0.5 % by weight, (c) blood plasma in an amount between about 0.1 to 3 % by weight and (d) calcium caseinate in an amount of 0.05 to 2% by weight to a washed and dewatered fish meat and blending and/or mincing the mixture.

2. A method for preparing a frozen surimi of enhanced storage stability which comprises adding (a) sugar and/or a sugar alcohol in an amount of between about 2 and 15% by weight, (b) polyphosphate in an amount between about 0.1 and 0.5 % by weight, (c) blood plasma in an amount between about 0.1 to 3 % by weight and (d) calcium caseinate in an amount of 0.05 to 2% by weight to a washed and dewatered fish meat blending and/or, mincing the mixture and refrigerating the mixture.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said dewatered fish meat has been previously conditioned by contacting it with water containing a water soluble calcium salt and/or magnesium salt.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein said dewatered fish meat has been previously conditioned by contacting it with water containing a water soluble calcium salt and/or magnesium salt.