Inhibition of Formaldehyde Production in Frozen-Stored Minced Blue Whiting (Micromesistiuspoutassou) Muscle by Cryostabilizers: An Approach from the Glassy State Theory

Adding maltodextrins to minced blue whiting muscle inhibited formaldehyde production during storage at -10 and -20 degrees C. Sucrose, however, was effective only at -20 degrees C. These results were not proportional to the difference between the storage temperature and the ice-melting onset (T(m)'), and freeze-concentration had to be considered. In the face of serious limitations to do this, resource was made to the state diagram for the sucrose-water binary system and the percentage variation of the ice-melting endotherm area of the different samples. A higher T(m)' and a lower freeze-concentration would account for the inhibiting effects of maltodextrins, whereas sucrose, despite diminishing T(m)', had an effect nearly as great as maltodextrins at -20 degrees C but had hardly any at -10 degrees C. The reason for this seems to lie in a lower freeze-concentration of solutes in the unfrozen water phase. Similarly, the differences found between sucrose and maltodextrins, as well as among maltodextrins, were also explained in terms of T(m)' and freeze-concentration.