Quality of dried salted red tilefish (Branchiostegus japonicas) using sodium citrate as a salt substitute

With the promotion of global salt reduction, people's health needs for low salt diet are increasing in recent years. Low sodium salt food with good flavor and appearance has become one of the research hotspots. In order to adapt to the needs of consumers for healthy diet, the present research made dried salted products using sodium citrate as a salt substitute and investigated the quality of the products. The dried salted products were made from red tilefish by air drying after soaking with 9% (W/V) salt (control group) and sodium citrate (experimental group). The quality of the products was indicated by the color and the pH of skin, Na⁺ concentration, texture, flavor characteristic substance IMP, and freshness index K value of meat, and sensory analysis after baking. In the experimental group, a*, C* and pH of the skin of dried salted fillet samples were significantly higher than those of the control group; the Na⁺ concentration in meat was 39% of that of the control group, which had higher water holding capacity, lower breaking load and breaking stress, and its breaking deformation was significantly higher than that of the control group; at the same time, there was no significant difference in IMP concentration as umami indexes and K value as fresh index. The sensory analysis results of the experimental group showed significantly lower saltiness score than the control group. On the basis of slightly higher appearance score, there was no significant difference in chewing, umami and overall acceptability. Using sodium citrate instead of salt to make dried salted products of red filefish fillets can effectively improve the skin color and reduce Na⁺ concentration while ensuring the quality parameters. Sodium citrate may be one of the ideal sodium salt substitutes, which can provide new ideas for improving the process, adjusting the taste, and reducing the amount of sodium salt of dried salted aquatic products.