Relationship Between Texture and Some Objective Indices in Frozen Blocks of Argentine Hake (Merluccius Hubbsi) Fillets

The relationship between texture of Argentine hake (Merluccius hubbsi) and four objective indices were studied at the storage temperatures of -7, -15 and -32°C. The objective tests performed on samples taken from skinless fillet blocks were: centrifuge drip, salt soluble protein content, dimethylamine content and formaldehyde content. Linear relationships were obtained for the following pairs of variables: texture-salt soluble protein content and texture-centrifuge drip content. The texture-dimethylamine relationship was also linear at -32°;C, but at -7 and -15°;C, non-linear relationships were obtained. Because of the high degree of correlation (ranging from 0.92 to 0.98 for the different storage temperatures) between dimethylamine and formaldehyde contents, the conclusions drawn from the texture-dimethylamine content relationships were also applicable to texture-formaldehyde content relationships. From the four objective texture indicative parameters studied, determination of centrifuge drip was the only parameter to be considered as a useful texture indicator of frozen blocks of Argentine hake fillets, as the corresponding relationship with texture was the only one that was non-temperature dependent.