Combined effects of high-pressure processing, sodium salt, and microbial transglutaminase on textural characteristics of fish emulsion sausages from threadfin bream surimi

Abstract The combined effects of high-pressure processing (HPP) and 0.1% microbial transglutaminase (MTGase) on the quality of threadfin bream surimi emulsion sausages with regular and reduced sodium chloride salt (2.5% and 0.5%) were investigated. Both regular and reduced salt sausages with 0.1% MTGase and HPP had the highest texture profile analysis parameters, cooking loss, and total expressible fluid. The myosin heavy chain band of the MTGase sample disappeared but the upper gel showed a higher-molecular-weight polymer. Scanning electron microscope micrographs indicated that the reduced salt sausages had larger pores than the regular type. The microstructure became honeycomb-like after HPP, with fewer pores and increased firmness. Both the regular and reduced salt sausages with 0.1% MTGase had denser, more uniform fibre structures. Following HPP, the protein network density increased while combining MTGase and HPP improved sausage texture.