Heat-induced change in myosin heavy chains in salt-ground meat with a food additive containing transglutaminase

Walleye pollack frozen surimi was ground with 3.0% NaCl in the presence and absence of 0.3% food additive containing transglutaminase. The salt-ground meat was heated at 25°C or 40°C for various durations, followed by heating at 90°C for 30min to obtain kamaboko gels.Quality of the kamaboko gel was evaluated from the changes in the breaking strength and breaking strain as a function of preheating time, as previously reported. In the present study, the crosslinking profile of myosin heavy chains of the same kamaboko gel was investigated. The results were as follows: (1) The addition of the additive containing transglutaminase remarkably accelerated the cross-linking reaction of myosin heavy chains in the salt-ground meat, accumulating cross-linked products with larger molecular sizes. (2) When such cross-linked products were accumulated in a large quantity, the breaking strength increased at a much higher rate than the increase in breaking strain of the same kamaboko gel.Considering the rate of progressing of the cross-linking reaction between myosin heavy chains in the gel, the quality of the kamaboko thus formed was shown to be clearly different from that of the ordinary product.