Effects of high-humidity hot air impingement cooking on physicochemical properties and microstructure of Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei)

In this study, the potential of high-humidity hot air impingement cooking (HHAIC) was investigated as an alternative to other conventional cooking methods, including steaming, boiling, and roasting, by assessing the physicochemical properties, taste profile, and sensory evaluations of Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei). Compared to the steamed-, boiled-, and roasted-treated shrimp, HHAIC-treated samples demonstrated a lower cooking loss between 3.19% and 16.47%, which was possibly attributed to the decreasing muscle rupture. Moreover, HHAIC-treated samples exhibited improved textural properties, higher color retention, better water -holding capacity, and higher degree of polyphenol oxidase inactivation. By low-field nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, HHAIC-treated shrimp showed a pretty uniform water distribution. The main secondary structures of protein in fully-cooked P. vannamei shrimp were & beta;-sheets and & beta;-turns with no significant difference in free amino acid content among the four methods. Therefore, HHAIC could be considered a novel thermal technique for high-quality shrimp products as well as for other aquatic products.