In the present study, G0 followed a typical pattern for thermal
gelation of surimi (Fig. 4). However, what is unique was the extent
of G0 increase when surimi was fortified with fiber. The G0 started
increasing at approximately 55 C and plateaued at 80–90 C
resulting in one large peak. However, the peaks for surimi fortified
with fiber were bigger and reached higher final G0 values. This observation is interesting to note since the only variation in the
treatments was the fiber concentration, while protein and water
contents were constant. The fiber, therefore, enhanced the overall
elasticity of surimi gels in a manner that was independent of protein
gelation. The initial increase of G0 at 55 C indicates the initial
protein–protein and protein–water chemical bonding/interaction
that ultimately sets the gel matrix (Yoon et al., 2004). The final
G0 increased proportionally with each increment of fiber addition
except 8 g/100 g of fiber. The 6 g/100 g fiber treatment resulted
in a more elastic gel than the 8 g/100 g counterpart.