Combination Effects of Microbial Transglutaminase, Reducing Agent, and Protease Inhibitor on the Quality of Hairtail Surimi

A combination of microbial transglutaminase (MTGase), reducing agent and protease inhibitor was employed to improve the quality of underutilized fish surimi. SDS‐PAGE indicated that cross‐linking of myosin heavy chain (MHC) occurred in MTGase‐contained samples, while MHC of samples without MTGase disappeared after 120 min incubation at 45°C. Although the gel‐forming ability increased with MTGase added up to 0.6 unit/g, it was still too low to be commercially acceptable. However, the combined use of 0.1% NaHSO 3 , 0.01 mM transepoxysuccinyl‐L‐leucylamido‐(4‐guanidino)butane (E‐64) and 0.35 units MTGase/g substantially improved the quality of hairtail surimi. Based on this result, the combined use of E‐64, MTGase and NaHSO 3 seemed to be a better way to improve gel‐forming ability of hairtail surimi.