TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENCE OF THE TENSILE-STRENGTH OF FISH MYOSIN GEL

The temperature dependence of the extension stress of myosin gel was examined as the simplest model of kamaboko in order to elucidate the mechanism of the elasticity of kamaboko, one of the traditional processed fishery foods in Japan. Myosin was extracted from greenling Hexagrammos otakii, and concentrated to 85 mg protein/g gel. The myosin was ground with 0.6 M KCl and gelled by heating at 80 degrees C for 20 min. The results were analyzed according to the equation derived from thermodynamics. The extension stress decreased with rise in temperature in the 10-80 degrees C range, and accordingly the entropy along with the inner energy were found to increase with extension under a constant temperature. Based on these results, a model structure of the myosin gel was presented. According to the model, the force which is responsible for returning the myosin gel to its original state is a strong aggregation force, or the inner energy. As a result, the elasticity of the myosin gel was concluded to be energy elasticity.