Feasibility of Linear Relationship between Failure and Non-failure Rheological Properties as Functions of Salt and pH

Effects of pH and salt concentration on rheological and thermal properties of Pacific whiting surimi were investigated. As pH increased from 6 to 7.5, failure shear stress and strain values increased from 15.4 to 31.32 kPa, whereas lightness values (L * ) decreased from 86.22 to 78.86. Storage modulus (G') followed a trend similar to failure shear stress. A linear relationship (r 2 =0.89) was found between G' and failure stress values as a function of pH. Increasing salt concentration up to 1% increased failure shear stress to 27.14 kPa without salt to 34.30 kPa, and strain values from 1.73 to 1.91, whereas further increase had a negative effect. The relationship between dynamic rheological data and failure shear stress was not linear, indicating that salt concentration cannot be used as an index for estimating final gel quality. The transition temperatures obtained from temperature sweep measurements of Pacific whiting surimi at different salt concentrations showed similar peak temperatures as DSC thermograms, indicating lower stability due to increased salt concentration.