Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of enzymatic impregnation by papaya latex with three different techniques (injection, immersion and high hydrostatic pressure) as a pretreatment for the tenderization process of "Chilean abalone" (C. concholepas). The impregnated latex activity was evaluated at 37 degrees C/1 h; 21 degrees C /6 h and 5 degrees C /24 h and quality parameters such as texture profile, water holding capacity, color and sensory analysis were analyzed. The results showed that high pressure pretreatment at 37 degrees C/1 h was the best treatment with a tenderization efficiency of 30.8%, a water holding capacity of 87.85 +/- 0.25 g/100 g and a sensory evaluation of the hardness with a high correlation (r(2) = 0.927). The ranges of Delta E ranging from 5.29 to 14.50 showing how the enzymatic solutions impacted color. Finally, this research showed that the use of enzymatic impregnation improves quality parameters in comparison to the traditional mechanical tenderization.