Study on quality characteristics, shelf-life prediction and frying mass transfer of breaded tilapia nuggets

Deep-fried breaded tilapia nuggets (DFBTNs) have good market prospects as a tilapia deep-processed product. In this study, we used pre-optimized DFBTNs to simulate the mass change from storage to consumption and investigated the changes in storage shelf-life and frying mass transfer kinetics of DFBTNs. Microbial growth trend and shelf-life prediction models at different storage temperatures were developed using a modified Gompertz equation. The R² of the fitted equations were all greater than 0.98, and the predicted shelf-life of the products was close to the actual measurement time. The ability of the electronic nose and tongue to differentiate between odor and taste can be used as a secondary indicator to determine whether a product is spoiled or not. During the reheating process of deep-frying, the batter shell moisture decreased (18.69 %→6.89 %), and the oil content increased (2.76 %→27.35 %). The mass transfer coefficient k fitted by Fick's second law for moisture evaporation was 0.0086, and the mass transfer coefficient k fitted by the first-order kinetic equation for oil absorption was 0.1137. This study is informative for storing and consuming DFBTNs, which can provide a basis for the deep processing and high-value utilization of tilapia.