ɛ-POLYLYSINE IMPROVES THE QUALITY OF SURIMI PRODUCTS

To apply ɛ-polylysine (PL) as a natural food preservative for the preparation of surimi products, effects of added PL on the textural properties and shelf-life of kamaboko gels were investigated. Kamaboko gels were prepared by setting at 30C for 1 h, then heating at 80C for 20 min. Breaking force and breaking strain of kamaboko gels increased slightly with increasing PL concentration up to 0.2% and decreased at 0.4%. However, the protein subunit component composition of kamaboko gels did not vary with the amount of PL added, indicating that PL did not promote the polymerization of myosin heavy chain. The increased pH value of surimi to around 7.6 as the result of the incorporation of 0.2% PL was found to be attributable to the increased textural properties of kamaboko gels. The shelf-life of kamaboko gels was significantly extended by the addition of 0.2% PL in surimi, especially at 5C and 10C storage.