A two-phase study was designed to investigate the effects of pH and salt concentration of washing solution on quality and yield of surimi from pearl mullet fillets and edible coatings on quality of the resultant surimi during cold storage. In the first phase, higher salt concentration increased gel strength of surimi and improved some other textural attributes. Surimi obtained by conventional method was found to be superior as higher yield, dry matter and protein contents were achieved. In the second phase of the study, surimi samples coated by 4 different coating formulations were stored at 4°C for 10 days along with fish mince and uncoated surimi as control. TVB-N values of coated samples were not significantly increased during storage while that of fish mince reached to 53.6 mg/100 g sample on the 7th day of storage. Acidity of all samples increased leading to lower ultimate pH values while ultimate pH of coated samples was not significantly different from that of control. In general, gelatin and chitosan based edible coatings were found not meaningfully effective in extending the shelf life of surimi under conditions studied and coating formulations used with while surimi itself showed prolonged shelf life compared to fish mince.
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