Effects of different sugars on the thermal properties and microstructures of Mandarin fish (Siniperca chuats)

The manuscript investigated the thermal properties and microstructure of mandarin fish soaking in sucrose, trehalose, dextran, irradiated degraded KGM and enzymatic KGM solutions by differential scanning calorimetry and optical microscope. The results showed that the total sugar content of mandarin fish in different solutions was significantly increased (P < 0.05). Integrity, deformation and defects of cells and myofibre–myofibre detachments were observed in mandarin samples. The addition of sucrose, dextran, irradiated degraded KGM and enzymatic KGM had a significant effect on the heating capacity of mandarin fish, especially at the temperature below 0 °C, while the addition of treholase exhibited an increase on heating capacity of mandarin fish at the temperature above 0 °C. Moreover, all the sugars except trehalose could significantly increase thermal stability of myosin, but decrease that of actin.