Optimization of thermophysical properties of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) previously treated with freezing-point regulators using response surface methodology.

Three freezing-point regulators (glycine, sodium chloride and D-sorbitol) were employed to optimize thermophysical properties of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) using response surface methodology (RSM). The independent variables were glycine content (0.250-1.250 %), sodium chloride content (0.500-2.500 %) and D-sorbitol content (0.125-0.625 %) and analysis of variance showed that the effects of glycine, sodium chloride and D-sorbitol on the thermophysical properties were statistically significant (P < 0.05). The coefficient of determination, R (2) values for initial freezing point (T i ), unfreezable water mass fraction (W u ), apparent specific heat (C app ) and Enthalpy (H) were 0.896 ~ 0.999. The combined effects of these independent variables on T i , W u , C app and H were investigated. The results indicated that T i , C app and H varied curvilinearly with increasing of glycine, sodium chloride and D-sorbitol content whereas W u increased nearly linearly. Based on response plots and desirability functions, the optimum combination of process variables for Pacific white shrimp previously treated with freezing-point regulators were 0.876 % for glycine content, 2.298 % for sodium chloride content and 0.589 % for D-sorbitol content, correspondently the optimized thermophysical properties were T i , - 5.086 °C; W u , 17.222 %; C app , 41.038 J/g °C and H, 155.942 J/g, respectively. Briefly, the application of freezing-point regulators depressed T i and obtained the optimum W u , C app and H, which would be obviously beneficial for the exploitation of various thermal processing and food storage.