Comparison of gel properties of surimi from freshwater and marine fish affected by substitution of sodium chloride with calcium β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate

gcSGs and smSGs exhibited more susceptibility to CaHMB than scSGs or sbSGs. • The water retention ability of surimi gels decreased due to CaHMB hydration effect. • The substation of NaCl by CaHMB promoted the protein aggregation with dense network. • CaHMB promoted the unfolding of MP heads and tails in different type of surimi gels. • CaHMB could inhibit the MHC degradation of scSGs, smSGs, and sbSGs. The improvement of gel properties in low-salt surimi is vital for constructing health-oriented products. In this work, calcium β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (CaHMB) was used to substitute sodium chloride to fabricate various low-salt surimi gels derived from freshwater and marine fish. Results indicated that grass carp surimi gels (gcSGs) and Spanish mackerel surimi gels (smSGs) presented superior gel performance with homogeneous microstructures in the presence of CaHMB. Remarkably, they exhibited the greatest textual properties in Na-L/Ca-H groups with increments of 32%–56%, compared with those in Na groups. The water retention capacity and thermal stability of samples were affected by CaHMB, as corroborated by 12.1%–19.4% reduction in water holding capacity and 5.4%–31.4% decrease in critical temperature than those of Na groups. CaHMB promoted unfolding of protein heads and tails in freshwater fish and marine fish surimi gels, respectively. Overall, replacing sodium salts with CaHMB was effective for producing surimi with high quality and nutrition. Download: Download high-res image (287KB) Download: Download full-size image