PROCEDURE FOR MECHANICAL ASSESSMENT OF TEXTURAL CHANGE IN DRIED FISH MEAT

The Warner-Bratzler shear test (WB) with a modified shear head and the punch test (PT) using a rheometer equipped with a cylindrical or a sp herical plunger were carried out to assess the textural change in fish meat during drying. These mechanical tests were evaluated by comparin g them with a sensory analysis of the texture. Fresh atoka mackerel mu scle as the testing sample was soaked in 1.0 M NaCl (pH 7.0) at 13 h, and dried at 15 degrees C and 65% in relative humidity for 0-16 h. The shear force and the shear energy of WB have the highest correlation c oefficient among the sensory textural scores of hardness and firmness. WE faithfully reflected the change in texture of fish meat during dry ing. On the contrary, PT was insufficient to detect the change in the texture of dried fish meat. The authors concluded that WE with a modif ied shear head is eminently suitable for measuring the textural change of fish meat during drying.