Quality Changes of Pre-fried Fish during Frozen and Reheating Process

To solve the problem of taste loss of new retail prepared fish after freezing and reheating. The changes of moisture content, water holding capacity, water distribution, and microstructure in pre-fried fish were analyzed during frying, freezing and reheating processes. The results showed that with the increase of freezing-thawing cycles, a significant decrease of the moisture content (P<0.05) and water holding capacity of pre-fried fish were observed, while the degree of fat oxidation, protein degradation, and muscle fiber destruction were increased significantly (P<0.05), as well as the flavor changes were displayed in all the samples. After reheating, the taste of pre-fried fish at 1 freezing-thawing cycle was similar to the unfrozen group. However, lower sensory scores were gained after 2 freezing-thawing cycles. Also, in comparation with the samples without freezing, the contents of myofibrillar fragmentation index, TBARS and TCA-soluble peptide increased by 24.44%, 225.84% and 52.85%, respectively. In conclusion, the edible quality and consumer acceptance of the pre-fried fish are significantly reduced when the number of freezing-thawing cycles are more than 2 times in the process of storage and transportation.