3.2 Water binding (WBC) and oil binding capacity (OBC)
The effects of pasteurization and chilled storage on WBC data are shown in Table 2.
In all lots there was a significant decrease in WBC (p < 0.05)
due to heating during pasteurization, with a greater decrease of WBC in lot C (11.3%)
than in lot O (5.3%) or lot S (5.1%).
These differences could be related directly to differences in the structural organization of the three types of prototypes.
In lot C the KGM and fish particles formed a coupled network (KGM-protein-water matrix). However, in lot O a “complex emulsion system” was formed as a result of oil addition.
This emulsion could be a twophase system in which oil acted as a phase filler
in the aqueous glucomannan-protein matrix (Damodaran, 1997, chap. 3),
reducing the decrease of WBC, so that pasteurization improved water entrapment ability relative to lot C1.
Pasteurization could therefore have induced some structural rearrangements in lot O,
increasing the hydrophobic interactions in the network; this would enhance the linking of filler in the biopolymer matrix, thus improving water holding ability (bonded water) (Kinsella, 1982)
as compared to the control (lot C1).
In the case of lot S, the larger number of Na+ and Cl− ions
made for greater electrostatic charge density, which increased the number of ion–dipole interactions with the permanent dipoles of water, enhancing the water holding ability
of the gel network (lot S1) more effectively than in the control (lot C1).