• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.43-52
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• 1978

It is well known that water holding capacity plays an important role in processing such meat products as frankfurter-type sausage and fish meat paste products as kamaboko and fish sausage. Consumer qualities of meat products, such as appearance, flavor, as well as drip and shrinkage on cooking, depend greatly on the degree of water binding. In this paper, the water holding capacities of fish paste and salt added paste of white corvenia, Argyrosomus argentatus and file fish, Novodon modestus were measured by centrifuging and press method before and after cooking. And the effects of the addition of phosphates and starch to enhance water binding and stabilize gel formation were also discussed. In addition, the experimental conditions which are suitable to determine the water binding of fish meat paste product were suggested. The results were expressed in percent of water absorbed by the filter paper when pressed or released by pressor or centrifuge to the weight of sample. From the results. a proper condition to measure the water holding capacity of fish meat paste was that 3.0 g of sample which was previously added with 10 percent water was centrifuged at 13,400 G or 12,000 rpm for 15 minutes for the centriguging method and for press method, 0.3 g sample with 10 percent of water added was extracted by an oil pressor at $30\;kg/cm^2$ for 1 minute. Water holding capacity of fresh paste of white corvenia was relatively higher than that of file fish and the difference between species of fish was greater than the difference between measurments by two methods. Sodium chloride had a great effect on enhancing the water holding capacity of fish meat paste giving better effect when 3.0 percent of salt was added. Phosphates used except calcium phosphate revealed a certain enhancement in water binding, yielding best effect at 0.3 percent addition, and metaphosphate seemed to be more effective in order. The addition of corn starch, however, appeared to be not so effective for enhancement of water binding in fresh-salt-added fish meat paste but in cooked fish paste which might be attributed to absorption of water by starch grain and swelling during the heating and consequently enforced gel strength of cooked fish paste. And the water holding capacity of cooked fish paste was proportionally related to its gel strength.