Changes in Phosphate and Water Content During Processing of Salted Pacific Cod (Gadus macrocephalus)

Fillets from Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) were salted with and without polyphosphates (PP) by means of a short three-step salting process. The changes in phosphate and water content during different steps of production were determined by comparing fillets with and without addition of PP. While fillet samples after salt injection and wetsalting contained different water content, from 80.1% to 74.6% depending on processing step and PP addition or not, after dry-salting there was no significant difference in water content between fillets with (58.1%) or without PP (58.9%). Dry-salted fillets with PP addition showed a phosphate content of 6.1 mg P2O5/g. In the following rehydration process (48 h), the total phosphate content dropped down to 2.9 mg P2O5/g, which was lower than the natural total phosphate content of 4.4 mg P2O5/g in the raw material.