Effect of chitosan combined with electrolyzed water on maintaining muscle quality and myofibril proteins of large yellow croaker (Pseudosciaena crocea) during refrigerated storage

Summary This study aimed to evaluate the effect of chitosan (CHI) combined electrolytic water (EW) cold sterilisation on muscle quality and myofibril proteins (MP) of large yellow croaker ( Pseudosciaena crocea ) during 12 days of refrigerated storage (4 °C). After the storage period, the sample of the EW + CHI group had the highest rate of hardness (36.68%), springiness (16.11%) among the control group without any treatment (CON), CHI group and EW group and similar tendencies were found in chewiness and cohesiveness. The MP content in the CON group decreased sharply from 80.35 mg g −1 to 57.90 mg g −1 , in contrast to the EW + CHI group, which decreased from 81.65 mg g −1 initially to 80.83 mg g −1 . The conformation of MP α‐helix and β‐sheet was retained to protect the secondary structure, and the exposure of aromatic amino acid residues was constrained to defend the tertiary structure in EW + CHI treatment which effectively delayed the degradation of MP. Based on these outcomes, EW + CHI treatment could significantly maintain the MP of large yellow croakers and prevent corruption during refrigerated storage.