Chitosan and Protein Coatings Affect Yield, Moisture Loss, and Lipid Oxidation of Pink Salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) Fillets During Frozen Storage

The effects of chitosan (CH1 = 1% and CH2 = 2% solution), egg albumin (EA), soy protein concentrate (SPC), pink salmon protein powder (PSP), and arrowtooth flounder protein powder (AFP) as edible coatings on quality of skinless pink salmon fillets were evaluated during 3 mo frozen storage. Coating with 2% chitosan (CH2) resulted in significantly higher yield than coating with PSP and AFP. The thaw yield of salmon fillets coated with CH2 was higher than those of the control and fillets coated with AFP. The noncoated, CH1‐, and CH2‐coated fillets had similar drip loss (0.4% to 1.2%), which was lower than those observed for PSP‐ and AFP‐coated fillets. All fillet samples had similar cook yield (84.2% to 88.8%). The fillet coated with CH1, CH2, SPC, and EA had significantly higher (P < 0.05) moisture content after thawing than the control noncoated fillets. Coating with CH1 and CH2 was effective in reducing about 50% relative moisture loss compared with the control noncoated fillets. Chitosan (CH1 and CH2) and SPC delayed lipid oxidation. There were no significant (P > 0.05) effects of coating on a*, b*, and whiteness values for cooked fillets after 3 mo frozen storage.