Occurrence of a Deeper Red Colour in Prawn Pulp Prepared from Iced-Prawns

Abstract

In commerce, great importance is given to the colour of the dry prawn pulp in its quality evaluation. The possible correlation between this colour factor to the iced or uniced condition of the raw prawn used, is investigated. The study reveals that as the icing period of the raw material increases the colour of the finished product proportionately intensifies to a bright red compared to light brownish yellow or orange colour of the product from the uniced prawn, and at the same time all other characteristics like flavour and taste deteriorates as the time of icing advances. This finding tend to show that the colour factor does not reflect the true quality of prawn pulp. Based on chemical data it is suggested that "browning" due to Maillard reaction may have an important role in this colour phenomena.