Abstract: The effect of hot boiling under varying conditions of temperatures and time on muscle characteristics and textural property of young anchovy were investigated. The results showed that water loss rate, weight loss rate, endogenous protease activity, protein solubility, free amino nitrogen content and texture properties of young anchovy were significantly affected by hot boiling. Higher hot-boiling temperature and longer hot-boiling time were more suitable for the inactivation of endogenous proteases and dehydration of the fish, but resulted in more serious protein denaturation and the loss of free amino acids, which caused fish muscle texture to become denser. Therefore, we concluded that the optimal hot-boiling temperature and time are 80－90 ℃ and 4 min, respectively.

Key words: young anchovy, hot boiling, muscle characteristics, textural properties