PRESERVATION OF COMMERCIAL FISH BALL QUALITY WITH EDIBLE ANTIOXIDANT-INCORPORATED ZEIN COATINGS

Fish ball, a surimi product rich in lipid and protein, is a popular food in Taiwan. Because lipid oxidation is one of the major deterioration reactions for fish ball, the feasibility of preservation of fish ball quality by the application of antioxidant-incorporated zein coating was investigated. Three antioxidants including butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and n-propyl gallate (PG) were used to formulate the antioxidant zein coatings. Infrared spectroscopy was used to confirm the successful incorporation of antioxidant with zein protein; peroxide value ( POV ), thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) and weight loss were used as the quality indicators of fish ball stored at 4C. While all three types of antioxidant-incorporated zein coatings significantly retarded the quality deterioration, PG-incorporated zein coating exerted better quality preservation effectiveness than BHA- and BHT-incorporated zein coatings.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Edible coatings have been under research for several decades. However, most of the studies are conducted for the investigations of physiochemical or mechanical properties and usually using simulated food systems. The lack of applications on the commercial food products manufactured from food plants makes the edible coatings somewhat unrealistic. Not prepared in a laboratory for academic purpose only, the fish ball used in the present study was a real commercial product. The promising results of antioxidant-incorporated zein coatings on commercial products presented in this report will enhance the confidence of food manufacturers on the edible coatings.