Abstract
To investigate and compare the changes in muscle quality of hooked, trawl-net, and radar-net hairtail (Trichiurus haumela, HH, TH, and RH) during thermal processing, the physicochemical properties of three kinds of hairtail were determined under heating at 30, 50, 70 and 90 °C for 10 min. Additionally, the muscle tissues were observed via Oil Red O (ORO) staining, Masson staining, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that with increased heating temperature, pH, L*, b*, chewiness, and gumminess in hairtail muscle increased, while a* and shearing force decreased. The springiness, relative contents of hydrophobic and disulfide bonds, myosin surface hydrophobicity, and TCA-soluble peptide content increased first and then decreased. However, the relative contents of ionic and hydrogen bonds showed an opposite trend. Histological observations revealed that heating disrupted hairtail muscle tissue, manifested by the blurriness and disorder of myofibrils and breakage of myofibrillar bundle membranes. The RH muscle exhibited the highest chewiness, gumminess, and chemical force levels, accompanied by the lowest content of TCA-soluble peptide. Furthermore, the RH muscle presented the greatest fat droplet content, diffusivity, and integrity of collagen and myofibers. Correlation analysis revealed a close correlation between muscle quality and protein function in HH, TH, and RH. This study provides a theoretical basis for the difference in muscle quality in three different types of hairtail.