Chemical, physical and sensory changes of small abalone meat during cooking

ABSTRACT:   Small abalone meats were heated at 80°C and 98°C for 0–120 min and the differences in chemical, physical and sensory changes of the cooked meats were investigated. The decrease in moisture and weight and the increase in browning and Hunter's b -value were relatively higher for cooking at 98°C than at 80°C. After cooking for 20–120 min, the total amount of adenosine triphosphate and its related compounds on a dry weight basis decreased by 17–27% at 80°C and by 30–39% at 98°C; the total amount of free amino acids on a dry weight basis changed insignificantly at 80°C but decreased by 22–35% after cooking at 98°C. The meats cooked at 80°C were higher in cutting force whereas the levels in the samples cooked at 98°C did not decrease until samples had been cooked for 60 min. The hydroxyproline content showed little change during cooking except for in samples cooked at 98°C for 120 min, in which the content was found to be low. The extended cooking at 80°C improved the acceptability of small abalone meat, whereas only the acceptability score of aroma increased significantly for cooking at 98°C.