Efficacy of trehalose, tea polyphenol and their combinaton-loaded sodium alginate coating pretreatments on microstructure, flavor and quality of heat pump dried scallop adductors.
Yoon Hlaine Barani, Ya Zhao, Xiaoning Cheng, Zhuo Zhang, Qilong Shi
Journal of the science of food and agriculture
Abstract
Protein denaturation/oxidation and lipid oxidation critically affect quality of dried aquatic products. Measures to maintain protein structure and reduce oxidation are assumed beneficial to maintain quality of dried products. Herein, scallop adductors without pretreatment (CK) and with different pretreatments including trehalose (TR), tea polyphenol (TP), their combinations (TR-TP), and TR-TP-loaded sodium alginate coating (TR-TP-SA) were performed to reveal their effects on microstructure, flavor, and quality of heat pump dried scallop adductors. Compared to the CK, pretreatments observably enhanced rehydration ratio, crude protein, total phenolic content, and DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryhydrazyl) radical scavenging activity by 2.93-429.55%, 8.98-22.46%, 50.54-440.59%, and 1.46- to 2.95-fold, while decreased total color difference, hardness, and chewiness by 5.99-15.48%, 21.06-69.02%, and 21.61-68.08%, respectively. The dominant taste amino acids in dried samples were sweet amino acids, accounting for 92.94-95.87% of total free amino acids which increased with TP pretreatment, while decreased with other pretreatments compared to the CK. Scanning electron microscopy analysis exhibited more uniform, loose and porous structures for pretreated samples compared to the CK sample, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis demonstrated an increase in α-helix while a decrease in random coils (except TR), β-sheet, and β-turns. Flavor analysis revealed a vital contribution of pretreatments to a significant increase (ranging from 1.25- to 6.55-fold) in aldehydes of dried samples. Principal component and hierarchical cluster analyses confirmed that all pretreatments markedly improved flavor profile and overall quality, suggesting potential benefits of these pretreatments in enhancing the quality of dried samples. © 2025 Society of Chemical Industry.