Effect of antifreeze on the quality of cooked crawfish tail meat after freeze-thawed

Abstract

Objective: The study aimed to improve the storage quality of frozen cooked crawfish tail meat. Methods: Crawfish tail meat were immersed in different proportions of complex phosphate, trehalose and sorbitol antifreeze agents. The thawing loss rate, water content and distribution, water retention, salt-soluble protein, total thiol content, texture properties of crawfish tail meat after freeze-thawed were measured, and the microstructure changes were observed to evaluate the effect of each antifreeze agent. The antifreeze agent with better effect was selected as horizontal factor to design orthogonal experiment, so as to optimize the appropriate recipe of antifreeze agents. Results: 1.5% complex phosphate, 8% trehalose or 10% sorbitol had better cryoprotective effect; The compound antifreeze agent group （1% compound phosphate +6% trehalose +6% sorbitol） had the best cryoprotective effect, and the thawing loss rate was 9.97% under this condition, which was significantly lower than that of the single antifreeze agent group （15.95%, 17.44%, 16.78%）.The combined antifreeze agent group could significantly improve the binding ability of shrimp meat with water and inhibit the damage of ice crystals to muscle tissue during the freeze-thaw process. Conclusion: The combination of antifreeze agents （1% compound phosphate +6% trehalose +6% sorbitol） could effectively improve the cryoprotective ability of cooked crayfish tail meat.

Keywords

• antifreeze
• crawfish
• freeze-thaw
• compound phosphate
• trehalose
• sorbitol