51A-26

E. Y. HWANG¹, H. S. RYU², J. H. LEE², and S. S. CHUN². (1) Food and Biotechnology, Pukyong National University, 599-1 Daeyeon3-Dong, Nam-Gu, Pusan, 608-737, South Korea, (2) South Korea

Hagfish(Eptatretus burgeri) is an easy available and widely consumed sea eel as a proteinous side dishes by Koreans. Even though it is known to be a nourishing and high protein seafood, few studies have been conducted to characterize its food qulities. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of cooking methods on protein quality of hagfish meats. In vitro protein qualities were determined by amino acid analysis, available lysine retention, trypsin indigestible substrate(TIS) formation, and protein digestibility using four-enzyme method. In vivo protein quality parameters(PER, NPR and AD) were obtained through growing rats experiments. Profiles of total amino acids were not changed seriously by the cooking methods, but 75% of total free amino acid content of raw meat was decreased in boiled(100C, 10 min) samples. In vitro protein digestibilty of cooked meats(81.3-83.5%) showed no significant differences from those of raw meat(82.9%), with exception of steamed(110C, 15 min) meat(86.3%). Convection oven cooking(220C, 15 min) could result a higher TIS(49.2 mg/g solid) compared with those of raw meat(38.9 mg/g soild). Available lysine was decreased after convection and microwave cooking(2,450 MHz, 3 min) from 4.9g/16g N to 3.8-4.1g/16g N. In vivo apparent protein digestibilty(AD) of hagfish meat was similar for raw(92.4%), cooked meats(92.1-92.6%), and those were some lower than ANRC casein(94.3%). The PERs(3.7-4.1) and NPRs(3.7-4.9) of cooked meats were significantly higher(p<0.05) than those of raw(PER 3.3, NPR 3.6) and ANRC casein(PER 2.5, NPR 2.6), in spite of showing lower in vivo protein digestibilities. Those results demonstrates that cooking at optimal conditions resulted a remarkably positive effects on in vitro and in vivo protein qualities of hagfish meats. Therefore, steamed hagfish meat could be an excellent source of high-protein quality seafood products.