EFFECTS OF DAIRY INGREDIENTS ON SOME CHEMICAL, PHYSICO-CHEMICAL AND FUNCTIONAL PROPERTIES OF MINCED FISH DURING FREEZING AND FROZEN STORAGE

A number of dairy ingredients have been selected based on their potential to act as cryoprotectants and have been added to four different fish mince types in order to slow undesired changes in the fish due to freeze/thaw cycles. Changes in fish chemical composition, colour, pH, water-holding capacity (WHC) and texture of fish gels, due to the added dairy ingredients, were investigated. The addition of the dairy ingredients affected the pH and the colour of the fish minces. For almost all of the fish types studied, the lower the fish WHC values, the greater the texture values for the gels.