Effects of Different Freezing Methods on Water Distribution, Microstructure and Protein Properties of Cuttlefish during the Frozen Storage

To study the effect of different freezing methods on the quality changes of cuttlefish during the frozen storage of cuttlefish, fresh cuttlefish was treated with six freezing methods (refrigerator direct-freezing, saline solution impregnation freezing, flat freezing, tunnel type continuous freezing, air-blast freezing and liquid nitrogen freezing) and then stored at −18 °C for 90 days. The time to pass the maximum ice crystal generation zone for the above six freezing methods in this experiment was 165.5, 67.5, 34.5, 21.8, 20.4 and 1.5 min, respectively. In this study, water retention (thawing loss rate, centrifugal loss rate, and cooking loss), pH, malondialdehyde content, TVB-N value, and sulfhydryl content were measured to evaluate the quality after thawing. Protein secondary structure was measured by attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), water migration was determined by low-field NMR, and muscle microstructure was observed by scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that among the six freezing methods, liquid nitrogen freezing took the shortest time to pass through the maximum ice crystal generation zone. And it had the highest water retention, the lowest TVB-N content, the highest sulfhydryl content and the least irregular curling of protein secondary structure after 90 days of frozen storage. However, liquid nitrogen freezing can cause cracks and breakage in cuttlefish due to cryogenic fracture caused by ultra-low temperature, which affects its sensory evaluation. Although the freezing speed of flat freezing is faster than refrigerator direct-freezing and saline solution impregnation freezing, the muscle is extruded and deformed during the freezing process, and the damage is more serious, and the frozen storage quality is the worst. The comprehensive analysis results showed that the freezing speed of air- blast freezing was faster and the quality of cuttlefish in the freezing process was better, which was the more recommended freezing method, and this study provided some theoretical basis for the selection of freezing method in the actual production of cuttlefish.