Effects of calcium chloride as a salt substitute on physicochemical and 3D printing properties of silver carp surimi gels

This work investigated the effects of calcium chloride (CaCl2) as sodium replacement on the physicochemical properties of silver carp surimi. As NaCl replaced by 0.32% and 0.63% CaCl2, surimi gels presented better textural properties, breaking force and rheological properties, while 0.95%, 1.27% and 1.58% CaCl2 led to the deterioration of gel strength. With the addition of CaCl2, water holding capacity (WHC) decreased significantly (p < .05), the T-23 relaxation time decreased and the proportion of T-23 increased. Compared with control, the sulphydryl content in surimi gel with 0.63% CaCl2 increased by 23.61% and the solubility decreased by 17.31%. Furthermore, the Raman spectra data demonstrated that more beta-sheet structures and random coils were induced in surimi gels prepared with CaCl2. Then surimi with and without CaCl2 was used as food-ink for three-dimensional (3D) printing, it indicated that surimi with 0.32% and 0.63% CaCl2 could effectively improve the 3D printability.