Effect of red algae powder on gel properties and in vitro hypolipidemic activity of fish balls

In this study, gel properties and in vitro hypolipidemic activity of fish balls with red algae powder including Porphyra and Bangia fusco-purpurea powder were investigated after frozen storage for 7 d. Water holding capacity and gel structure are important factors affecting the quality of minced fish products. The results showed that Porphyra powder at 0.5 % significantly increased water holding capacity of fish balls while Bangia fusco-purpurea powder not (p ≥ 0.05), and both Porphyra and Bangia fusco-purpurea powder enhanced protein interactions, the cross-linking of actin and gel network structure, but 1.0 % of them decreased water holding capacity, resulting the loose and irregular gel structure of fish balls with excessive aggregation partially (p < 0.05). Moreover, both Porphyra and Bangia fusco-purpurea powder higher than 0.5 % could significantly improve the bile salt binding ability of fish balls (p < 0.05), especially Bangia fusco-purpurea powder at 1.0 % also significantly increased the inhibition rate of pancreatic lipase of fish balls (p < 0.05), suggesting the enhanced hypolipidemic activity for fish balls with red algae powder. These findings indicated that surimi products with desirable gel and hypolipidemic activity can be designed by adding appropriate type and concentration of red algae powder.