Texture characteristics of chilled prepared Mandarin fish ( Siniperca chuatsi ) during storage

Mandarin fish that have been prepared and chilled have a shelf life of 4 days at 4°C storage, according to the total volatile basic nitrogen values. During the storage process, we observed that the texture characteristics of these fish significantly deteriorated. Certain low-abundance proteins were degraded during the shelf life, which resulted in changes in protein conformation and protein–water interaction patterns. The water-holding capacity of the fish decreased during 4°C storage; nuclear magnetic resonance analysis showed that the binding of water in fish was weakened as shelf storage prolonged and a portion of the free water was also “squeezed” to the surface of the fish in the later stages of storage. A correlation analysis showed that a decrease in the immobilized water content and mobility was associated with quality deterioration of the fish, which may be a result of increase in hydrophobic interaction and disulfide bonds in the fish during storage.