Effects of calcium chloride as a salt substitute on physicochemical and 3D printing properties of silver carp surimi gels

Abstract

This work investigated the effects of calcium chloride (CaCl₂) as sodium replacement on the physicochemical properties of silver carp surimi. As NaCl replaced by 0.32% and 0.63% CaCl₂, surimi gels presented better textural properties, breaking force and rheological properties, while 0.95%, 1.27% and 1.58% CaCl₂ led to the deterioration of gel strength. With the addition of CaCl₂, water holding capacity (WHC) decreased significantly (p < .05), the T₂₃ relaxation time decreased and the proportion of T₂₃ increased. Compared with control, the sulphydryl content in surimi gel with 0.63% CaCl₂ increased by 23.61% and the solubility decreased by 17.31%. Furthermore, the Raman spectra data demonstrated that more β-sheet structures and random coils were induced in surimi gels prepared with CaCl₂. Then surimi with and without CaCl₂ was used as food-ink for three-dimensional (3D) printing, it indicated that surimi with 0.32% and 0.63% CaCl₂ could effectively improve the 3D printability.