Abstract: Three brands of commercial ready-to-eat fish tofu (A, B, and C) were purchased and evaluated for their nutritional components and gelling properties. The results showed that the moisture contents of brands A, B and C were 65.94%, 69.34% and 67.20%, respectively, crude protein contents were 25.63%, 22.02% and 23.81% respectively, and crude fat and ash contents were low. All three brands contained a variety of amino acids with ratios of essential to total amino acids of 39.43%, 39.64% and 39.57%, and ratios of umami taste to total amino acids of 37.11%, 36.06% and 36.32% respectively; the first limiting amino acid was leucine (Leu) for all three samples, and the essential amino acids index (EAAI) scores for brands A, B and C were 43.81, 53.14 and 49.57, respectively. A total of 21, 22, and 21 fatty acids were detected in these three brands, and the contents of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) were high in them (59.14%, 63.39% and 44.59%, respectively). Water holding capacity of these fish tofo samples were high, which were 84.61%, 86.36% and 82.98% respectively. Moreover, pH values were 6.04, 6.06 and 6.23 and gel strengths were 320.17, 203.63 and 212.71 g?cm, respectively. Accordingly, this study demonstrated that fish tofu is a ready-to-eat food containing a variety of amino acids and having good gel performance. Data from this study may provide the foundation for further evaluation of the quality of commercial fish tofu products.

Key words: fish tofu, nutritional components, gelling properties