Ultrasound use as a pretreatment for shrimp (<i>Litopenaeus</i><i>vannamei</i>) dehydration and its effect on physicochemical, microbiological, structural, and rehydration properties
Georgina Guadalupe Castañeda‐López, José Armando Ulloa, Petra Rosas‐Ulloa, José Carmen Ramírez‐Ramírez, Ranferi Gutiérrez‐Leyva, Yessica Silva‐Carrillo, Blanca Estela Ulloa‐Rangel
Abstract
Alternative pretreatments to food materials are necessary to enhance the dehydration process and improve the quality of products. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the ultrasound pretreatments on the dehydration behavior and quality characteristics of dehydrated shrimp. Shrimps were ultrasonicated in a salt solution (10%) at 4°C for 15 and 30 min in an ultrasonic bath (130 W, 40 kHz) and then dehydrated and their kinetics modeled. The ultrasound pretreatments for 15 and 20 min diminished the dehydration time by 15.6% and 12.1%, respectively, in comparison with the control treatments, being the Page model the one that best described the dehydration kinetics. The content of ash significantly increased (p < .05) and the water activity (aw) significantly decreased (p < .05), while some rehydration quality indices also raised in the dehydrated shrimps pretreated with ultrasound in comparison with controls. Ultrasound can potentially be applied for shrimp dehydration, given the advantages in reducing processing time and improving product quality. Practical applications Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) is a nutritious seafood that is appreciated for its delicious meat, which represents 53% of the world’s aquaculture production of crustaceans. Unfortunately, shrimp like many foods is highly perishable; hence, different processing technologies must be applied to improve its useful life. At present, drying is the main applied method in the aquatic product processing industry, but depending of the applied conditions, changes may occur that affect the quality of the product. Pretreatments such as the ultrasound improved the dehydration process and the quality of the dehydrated shrimp. Therefore, such conditions could be used to produce ready-to-eat food from shrimp, as is currently demanded by consumers.