Protein hydrolyzates from seal meat as phosphate alternatives in food processing applications

Protein hydrolyzates were prepared from mechanically separated seal meat (MSSM) and used as phosphate alternatives in meat products in order to improve their water-binding capacity. The drip volume from thermally processed MSSM containing 3% (ww) seal protein hydrolyzate (SPH) was 5.8% (vw) as compared with 12.8% (vw) for meats cooked without any added SPH. The cooking loss of MSSM was minimum at a SPH concentration of 3%, similar to that of polyphosphates at the same level, but much higher than that of polyphosphates at their 0.5% maximum allowable limit of use. When compared to different phosphates, the drip volume resulting from use of SPH (54.7% of the drip from MSSM without additives) was lower than that for samples treated with sodium pyrophosphate (72.6%), sodium tripolyphosphate (66.4%) or sodium hexametaphosphate (60.0%).