Simulated analog crayfish meat based on 3D print: Effect of crayfish oil emulsion on gel properties of surimi

To address the low utilization of crayfish oil in crayfish by-products, this study aimed to extract oil from crayfish by-products and apply it to surimi gels to produce novel products. The investigation focused on the impact of various volume ratios of gelatin (GeL) to xanthan gum (XG) on Pickering emulsion stability and the quality of surimi 3D-printed products. The findings indicated that when the ratio of GeL to XG was 2:1, the Pickering emulsion obtained had a smaller particle size of 23.97 μm and a maximum absolute zeta-potential of 28.30 mV, which could make the crayfish oil emulsion system more stable. Subsequently, the micro-rheological analysis indicated that GeL/XG (2:1) stabilized emulsion had the highest MVI value (0.59 nm −2 ·s at 85000 s), suggesting it may be more dominant during long-term stability. In addition, the addition of stabilized crayfish oil emulsion to surimi for 3D printing improved the quality of the surimi final product. It was found that when the emulsion was added at an amount of 5 %, the obtained surimi mixture had higher printing accuracy (86.00 %) and printing stability (98.64 %), with a hardness of 660.35 g, a springiness of 0.8750, a chewiness of 384.82 g, and a water holding capacity of 93.10 %. This work could provide valuable theoretical and methodological insights into the extraction and utilization of crayfish by-product oils as well as 3D printing of crayfish meat, especially in terms of quality, texture and color.