Edible Antimicrobial Coating Incorporating a Polymeric Iron Chelator and Its Application in the Preservation of Surimi Product

To explore a novel efficient method in food preservation, edible zein coating which incorporates a polymeric chelator was developed and its preservative effect on commercially manufactured fish balls was investigated. The quality indicators of the fish ball during the storage, including sensory quality, total bacterial count, total basic volatile nitrogen (TVB-N) content, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and pH value were determined. It has been demonstrated that a zein film containing a polymeric chelator significantly (P < 0.05) improves the sensory properties, retards the growth of spoilage bacteria, and decreases TVB-N and TBARS values. The increase of the microbial load of fish balls coated with antimicrobial zein during a 16-day refrigeration storage period was less than 1 log cfu/g, while the microbial load increased to about 5 log cfu/g for the control group lacking the coating treatment. Although statistically significant differences in the pH values were not observed between coated and uncoated fish balls (P > 0.05), fish balls coated with antimicrobial zein maintained a relatively stable state during storage. Zein coating which incorporates a polymeric chelator extends fish ball shelf life to 19 days at 4 A degrees C, being more efficient than zein coating lacking a polymeric chelator (13 days). Clearly, polymeric chelator-incorporated zein film could find application in the preservation of surimi products by preventing the growth of bacteria and oxidation of fat during storage.