Abstract

Biochemical and gel properties of surimi-like material from goat meat (SMGM) as affected by washing solutions including tap water, NaCl, sodium bicarbonate, aluminium sulphate and sodium pyrophosphate, with the same ionic strength of 0.15 for all salt solutions, were investigated. Three-cycle washing (cold solution/water/water; mince:solution ratio of 1:5; 10 min/cycle) was used. Washing solutions differently altered the pH, Ca²⁺-ATPase activity, reactive sulfhydryl, TCA-soluble peptide, total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N), myoglobin, lipid and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) content of SMGM. Washing can eliminate undesirable lipid, myoglobin, TVB-N and TCA-soluble peptide from goat meat. SMGM washed with water and NaCl can form stable gels whereas SMGM washed with bicarbonate, pyrophosphate and aluminium sulphate formed very mushy gel/aggregate with high released water. SMGM gels particularly that washed with NaCl had higher breaking force, deformation and whiteness with lower TBARS content, species odour and expressible drip than unwashed mince. Therefore, SMGM can be optimally produced by washing with NaCl solution.