UNIVERSITY PARK - Fish
products suitable for human
consumption may soon be
produced from an ingredient
called fish sawdust. This
granulated fish muscle, or GFM, is
a high quality protein source being
studied by two Penn Staters for use
in human food.
“Nobody has ever looked at this
material before,” says J.H.
Mac Neil, professor of food science
at Penn State. “Our main thrust
was to identify all possible
One fish dust patty on
characteristics of granulated fish
muscle that were important for
human food.”
Mac Neil and Denise Ciabocchi,
graduate assistant in food science,
confined research to codfish, since
it is the major species used in
frozen fish portions. Whole fillet
and minced fish were used for
comparison.
Analysis of granulated fish
muscle found protein values
around 17 percent, fat 0.7 percent,
moisture 81 percent, and ash 1
percent. These statistics are
comparable to whole fillet and
minced fish.
This granulated fish muscle
looks like sawdust, Mac Neil noted,
except that it is white. Viewed
under an electron microscope,
granulated fish muscle resembles
a wet commeal product, but with
large visible amounts of intact
muscle fiber.
Granulated fish muscle is used to
some extent m pet foods. Other
wise, it is a waste product of an
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 8,19 S
rye, please
estimated 10 million pounds in the
United States each year.
Blocks of frozen fish are im
ported primarily from Iceland and
Canada. In cutting pieces of
sandwiches, sticks, and other fish
products, the blocks pass through
several saw blades. The process
leaves behind a fine residue
similar to sawdust
Emulsifying capacity the
ability to bind together protein,
water, and fat was somewhat
lower for granulated fish muscle
and minced fish than for whole
fillets. However, GFM is quite
capable of forming a stable
emulsion a crucial property for
products made from muscle food,
like hot dogs
During frozen storage of cod,
quality deterioration is ac
companied by muscle toughening
This can be detected by con
sumers However, when properly
stored at -20 F, the toughening is
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