Chitooligosaccharides suppress the freeze-denaturation of actomyosin in Aristichthys nobilis surimi protein.

Effect of chitooligosaccharides on the denaturation of bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis) surimi protein during frozen storage at -18 °C was investigated. The addition of 4 g of chitooligosaccharides to 100 g of the bighead carp (A. nobilis) surimi effectively inhibited the inactivation of the Ca(2+)-ATPase during frozen storage at -18 °C for 15 days compared to the control group (p<0.05), while excessive chitooligosaccharides decreased the inhibition effect. The Ca(2+)-ATPase activity of actomyosin for the treatment group decreased gradually during frozen storage at -18 °C, while that of the control dropped drastically and could not be detected after 30 days of storage. On the other hand, the addition of chitooligosaccharides also significantly increased the solubility of actomyosin compared to the control group (p<0.05) during frozen storage at -18 °C up to 120 days.