Effect of <i>Spirulina platensis</i> Biomass with High Polysaccharides Content on Quality Attributes of Common Carp (<i>Cyprinus carpio</i>) and Common Barbel (<i>Barbus barbus</i>) Fish Burgers

• Main Authors: Mohamed Barkallah, Ali Ben Atitallah, Faiez Hentati, Mouna Dammak, Bilel Hadrich, Imen Fendri, Mohamed Ali Ayadi, Philippe Michaud, Slim Abdelkafi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-05-01
• Series: Applied Sciences
• Subjects: Canned fish burgers; <i>Spirulina platensis</i>; texture; polysaccharides; carotenoids; antioxidant activities
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/9/11/2197

Lately, microalgae have been used as natural additives in fish-transformed products to improve their nutritional quality. In this research, the effects of adding <i>Spirulina platensis</i> at concentrations of 0.5, 1 and 1.5% <i>w</i>/<i>v</i> on both the texture and the sensory characteristics of canned burgers were studied. In fact, the addition of <i>Spirulina platensis</i> to fish burgers improves their nutritional composition. Compared to the results of the other fish burger treatments, the treatments that contain 1% of <i>Spirulina platensis</i> had better texture and sensory properties (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.05). Besides, these treatments showed higher swelling ability as well as water and oil holding capacities, due to the important dietary fibers and polysaccharides contents found in <i>Spirulina platensis</i>. No mold or foodborne pathogens were detected in any of the canned burgers up to 8 months of storage at 4 &#176;C. Furthermore, burgers prepared with <i>Spirulina</i> were distinguished by the lowest mean (a* and b*) values (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.05), which shows that the yellow color gradually diminished towards a greenish color. Because of the presence of polysaccharides and pigments (chlorophylls, carotenoids and phycocyanin), <i>Spirulina</i> <i>platensis</i> considerably ameliorates the antioxidant activities of the newly prepared fish burgers. On the whole, we can conclude that <i>Spirulina platensis</i> can be used as a nutritious additive to produce new fish-based products with high alimentary qualities.