COLORIMETRIC STUDY OF TAMBAQUI SURIMIS UNDER DIFFERENT CRYPROTECTOR FORMULATIONS

Surimi is a high protein fish product used as an ingredient in the development of food products, and its color is a relevant quality parameter. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of different cryoprotectant formulations on the final color of surimis. Tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) fillets from the Experimental Farm of the Federal University of Mato Grosso were used. The fillets were ground, subjected to 5 washing cycles, in potable water (5±3 ºC), drained, and homogenized with cryoprotectants. The treatments were: surimi without cryoprotectant (T0); surimi with 1% sucrose and 2% sodium chloride (T1); surimi with 5% sorbitol and 0,3% sodium tripolyphosphate (T2); surimi with 6% sucrose, 6% sorbitol and 0,5% sodium tripolyphosphate (T3). An instrumental color study was performed using the CIELAB color space (L*, a*, b*) and the color difference (∆E) was calculated. Data were statistically treated in Software R, by Dunnett test (p <0,05), being compared between T0 and each treatment. For the luminosity parameter (L*) we obtained mean values of 77.47 (T0); 77.18 (T1); 70.00 (T2) and 70.49 (T3). For the green shade (a*), the values were -1.67; -1.61; -1.93; -1.39 and for yellow (b*) were 2.79; 3.19; 2.54; 3.36 for T0, T1, T2 and T3, respectively. The statistical difference was expressed only in the parameter L*, between T0 with T2 and T0 with T3, indicating that surimis plus cryoprotectants were darker. We found values for ∆E of 0.50; 7.48; 7.01 in the comparisons T0 and T1, T0 and T2, T0 and T3, respectively, showing a greater color distance from treatments T2 and T3 compared to the standard color (T0). It was concluded that the cryoprotectant formulations used in this experiment influenced the final coloring of the elaborated surimis making them darker.