Effect of oxidized and unoxidized onion extracts on gel strength and antioxidant activity of pangasius surimi gels

Abstract

[Objective] Pangasius, a freshwater fish, is used as raw material for surimi preparation due to its availability and low price. However, its gel-forming ability is low compared to the cold-water fish surimi. It has been reported that adding polyphenols could improve the gel strength of surimi. Onion extracts containing abundant polyphenols can be a promising option that can modify the characteristics of the protein gels. Furthermore, oxidized polyphenols have a higher capacity to interact with proteins by cross-linking and strengthening surimi gel. Also, the addition of onion extracts is expected to increase the antioxidant capacity of the surimi gels and prolong shelf life. Therefore, this study aims to improve pangasius surimi gel strength and antioxidant capacity by incorporating onion extracts (OE) and oxidized onion extracts (OEox).