Effect of Inclusion of Salmon Roe on Characteristics of Salmon Baby Food Products

Abstract

Baby food was formulated from sockeye salmon (puree alone, puree + chunks, puree + pink row, puree + pink row + chunks, puree + red row, puree + red roe + chunks). In the 1st study, physical (pH, instrumental color, water activity) and descriptive sensory (odor, flavor, texture, visual color) characteristics were determined. Samples containing roe were lighter and less red (by approximately 3 to 4 a* units) than formulations without roe regardless of the type of roe added. Visual pink color followed the same trend. Formulations with roe, both pink and sockeye, were almost twice as fibrous as formulations without roe. Salmon flavor was stronger in samples containing roe from sockeye salmon. In the 2nd study, retort processed samples were stored at room temperature for 6 mo. Sweaty odor decreased over storage time. Visual cream-brown color correlated with L*, a*, b*, and chroma values (r =-0.80, 0.75, 0.80, and 0.84, respectively). TBARS values of all samples were < 0.35 mg MDA/kg and declined after month 0 indicating that these products were oxidatively stable. Overall, adding roe to these products lightened them and increased fibrous texture. Samples containing sockeye salmon roe had stronger salmon flavor. Once retort processed, these products were quite stable in terms of color, odor, and TBARS. Potential nutrient contributions of this type of product to the infant diet warrant additional research.

Quality Characteristics of Freeze-Dried Salmon Baby Food Purees During Storage

“…Including roe in the formulation produced a lighter, less red, retort-processed product; while including oil and/or bone produced a darker, redder, retortprocessed product. Similar results for effects of roe on L * and a * values in retort-processed purees have been reported by DeSantos et al (2010b). The retort-processed puree + oil formulation was most yellow, and puree + roe was least yellow.…”

“…Formulations containing puree and puree + roe had similar salmon odor intensities. DeSantos et al (2010b), however, reported that retort-processed salmon puree containing roe had a more intense salmon flavor than puree alone.…”

“…In addition, bone would add minerals (calcium and phosphorus) which could contribute to discoloration reactions. DeSantos et al (2010b) found that L * , a * , and b * of puree and puree + roe remained approximately constant during 6 months of room temperature storage; however, those samples were not subjected to dehydration.…”

“…The freeze-dried formulation containing puree + roe became much lighter (L * = 66 to 72) during the 1st month of storage. When evaluating retort-processed salmon baby food, DeSantos et al (2010b) reported that samples containing roe were lighter than formulations without roe regardless of the type of roe (red vs. pink) added. They suggested that this may indicate that roe pigments are more susceptible to heat than the pigments in salmon flesh; however, they were comparing retort-processed, not freeze-dried formulations.…”

“…Like salmon flesh, roe are heat labile, undergoing irreversible denaturation which results in loss of pink color (Haard, 1992;Kong et al, 2007;DeSantos et al, 2010aDeSantos et al, , 2010b. DeSantos et al (2010aDeSantos et al ( , 2010b reported that salmon baby food lost much of its characteristic pink color during the manufacturing process (cooking, homogenization, retort-processing).…”