Low-salt restructured fish products using low-value fish species from the gulf of Mexico

Striped mullet (Mugil cephalus) and mexican flounder (Cyclopsetta chittendenni) are two abundant fish species in the north of the Gulf of Mexico. Both species are caught in large volume but their flesh is underutilised. The objective of this work was to determine the feasibility of obtaining restructured product from both fishes and their mixture (1:1) using two levels of salt (10 or 20 g kg-1). Changes in mechanical properties (texture profile analysis and puncture test), expressible water and colour attributes were measured. Gels from both fish species produced good gels at both levels of salt. Gels obtained from the mixture had lower mechanical properties than gels from each fish species alone. Microbial transglutaminase (MTGase) was used as binder to improve mechanical properties of the mixture. The gels showed higher darkness and redness in the following order: striped mullet, mixture (1:1) striped mullet:mexican flounder, mexican flounder. The use of MTGase at 3 g kg-1 was appropriated to improve mechanical properties of restructured products from the mixture (1:1) of striped mullet:mexican flounder.