Effect of Immersion Ohmic Heating on Thawing Rate and Properties of Frozen Tuna Fish

مجله پژوهشهای علوم و صنایع غذایی ایران

Article 8, Volume 16, Issue 5 - Serial Number 65, November and December 2020, Pages 621-628   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/ifstrj.v16i5.82797

Authors

Maryam Keshani¹; Nafiseh Zamindar^{* 1}; Reza Hajian²

¹Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan Branch (Khorasgan), Isfahan, Iran.

²Department of Bioelectrics, Faculty of Medical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Introductıon: The Scombridae family of fish consists of tuna, bonito and mackerel species that are found in warm waters. Tuna species is important because of economic value and prevalence in global trade. Although, they are usually not consumed fresh because of the limited fishing season, lack of accessible markets at certain locations and cost of transport to other areas. Therefore, long-term preservation methods must be used. For many years, freezing has been the method of preserving food for a longer period without a significant quality decrease. Thawing with minimal damage to the products quality is very important. Since common thawing methods are usually slow and reduce food quality, a substituted technique seems necessary. Ohmic thawing is a thermal-electrical method with a more uniform heat compared to other thermal-electrical methods. The speed and relative uniformity of ohmic heating is possible by passing direct electrical current through the product. In this process, the electrical resistance of frozen food is utilized. Electrical energy passes through food by means of electrical current and is dissipated in the form of heat (Joule effect). Based on Ohm’s law, the amount of dissipated heat is directly related to the used voltage and the electrical conductivity of the product or its parts.
 
Materials and Methods: Muscles of the frozen tuna fish were cut into 3x3x3 cm cubes and kept in zip lock bags and stored at -30  for 24 h. Then the samples maintained at -18  until the experiments time. The ohmic cell was filled with saline solution (0.3%, 0.4% and 0.5% respectively) and the thermocouple was connected to the geometric centre of the frozen fish at -18. Then a voltage of 50 volts with 50Hz frequency was applied until the sample centre reached -7. The samples were then removed from the cells and protein solubility, pH, TVBN, centrifuge loss, thawing loss, drip loss, evaporation loss, and press juice were measured at 0, 24 and 48 h after thawing. Completely randomize design in factorial form with three replications was carried out for the experiments. Data were analyzed by SAS software.
 
Results and Discussion: In this research, ohmic thawing was evaluated as a new method for thawing fish. According to the results of ANOVA, with passing of time the protein solubility, pH, TVBN, centrifuge loss and press juice was increased. With further study of ANOVA of thawing loss and drip loss, it was concluded that salt concentration had a significant effect on dependent parameters (P<0.05). While keeping a high thawing speed, no burning marks appeared on the edges and around the samples in the ohmic method.

Keywords

Tuna fish; Immersion ohmic thawing; TVB-N; Protein solubility

References

Duygu B, Ümit G 2015. Application of ohmic heating system in meat thawing. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 195: 2822-2828.

ElShehawy SM, Gab-Alla AAE-F, Mutwally HM 2016. Quality Attributes of the Most Common Consumed Fresh Fish in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences 5: 85-94. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20160502.11

Goulas AE, Kontominas MG 2005. Effect of salting and smoking-method on the keeping quality of chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus): biochemical and sensory attributes. Food Chemistry 93: 511-520.

He X, Liu R, Nirasawa S, Zheng D, Liu H 2013. Effect of high voltage electrostatic field treatment on thawing characteristics and post-thawing quality of frozen pork tenderloin meat. Journal of Food Engineering 115: 245-250.

Kim J-Y, Hong G-P, Park S-H, Spiess WE, Min S-G 2006. Effect of Ohmic Thawing on Physico-Chemical Properties of Frozen Hamburger Patties. Korean Journal for Food Science of Animal Resources 26: 223-228.

Li D, Jia S, Zhang L, Wang Z, Pan J, Zhu B, Luo Y 2017. Effect of using a high voltage electrostatic field on microbial communities, degradation of adenosine triphosphate, and water loss when thawing lightly-salted, frozen common carp (Cyprinus carpio). Journal of Food Engineering.

Liu L, Llave Y, Jin Y, Zheng D-y, Fukuoka M, Sakai N 2017. Electrical conductivity and ohmic thawing of frozen tuna at high frequencies. Journal of Food Engineering 197: 68-77.

Mousakhani-Ganjeh A, Hamdami N, Soltanizadeh N 2015. Impact of high voltage electric field thawing on the quality of frozen tuna fish (Thunnus albacares). Journal of Food Engineering 156: 39-44.

Mousakhani-Ganjeh A, Hamdami N, Soltanizadeh N 2016. Thawing of frozen tuna fish (Thunnus albacares) using still air method combined with a high voltage electrostatic field. Journal of Food Engineering 169: 149-154.

Nordt SP, Pomeranz D 2016. Scombroid poisoning from tilapia. The American journal of emergency medicine 34: 339. 331.

Pedersen SJ, Feyissa AH, Kavli STB, Frosch S 2016. An investigation on the application of ohmic heating of cold water shrimp and brine mixtures. Journal of Food Engineering 179: 28-35.

Rahbari M, Hamdami N, Mirzaei H, Jafari SM, Kashaninejad M, Khomeiri M 2018. Effects of high voltage electric field thawing on the characteristics of chicken breast protein. Journal of Food Engineering 216: 98-106.

Warner R, Kauffman R, Greaser M 1997. Muscle protein changes post mortem in relation to pork quality traits. Meat science 45: 339-352.