Abstract:

The effect of corn starch in batters on quality attributes of deep-fried, battered and breaded fish nuggets including
sensory score, oil and water content, pick-up value, texture, color, microstructure, and absorption and distribution of oil was
investigated in this study. The results showed that oil contents of shell and internal fish nugget with a ratio of 3:2 between
flour and corn starch were 22.36% and 2.23%, respectively, and water contents were 36.89% and 70.19%, respectively. Shell
chewiness was 2.64 kg and internal fish springiness was 0.92 cm. The pick-up value of deep-fried, battered and breaded fish
nuggets was 28.10%, with moderate batter consistency. Moreover, L*, a*, and b* values of deep-fried fish nuggets were
60.18, 3.15 and 27.32, respectively, and the product had high sensory score. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) results
showed that the porous structure of deep-fried, battered and breaded fish nuggets varied with the ratio between flour and
corn starch. When the ratio of flour to starch was 3:2, the shell had a compact structure with a small amount of porosity.
Moreover, porosity distribution of internal fish nuggets was relatively uniform. Sudan red-dyed dyeing experiments showed
that surface sediment firstly decreased and then increased with increasing ratio of flour to corn starch, and the dyeing oil
entered internal fish nuggets through the pores for water evaporation. When the ratio of flour to starch was 3:2, lighter Sudan
red-dyed level and a smaller amount of internal pores were observed. The results indicated that the quality of deep-fried,
battered and breaded fish nuggets were obviously influenced by the amount of corn starch in batters.

Key words: deep-fried, battered and breaded fish nuggets, corn starch, fat content, pick-up value