Prevention of quality characteristic decline in freeze‐thawed cultured large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea) using flammulina velutipes polysaccharide

To investigate the cryoprotective effect of flammulina velutipes polysaccharide (FVP) on the quality characteristics in freeze‐thawed cultured large yellow croaker, 0.050%, 0.075%, and 0.100% FVP was used before freezing and the quality after thawing was compared with water soaking (WS) and commercial cryoprotectant (CC) treatment. Quality attributes were comprehensively determined instrumentally and organoleptically after thawing at 4°C. Results showed that FVP effectively reduces the quality deterioration of body color and water‐holding capacity, while no obvious effects were observed in texture and flavor. As for body color, both FVP and CC treatment could maintain the b* value to a large extent. Among them, 0.075% FVP shows the highest value in two sample points, with 55.2% and 21.0% increases seen in the values in WS. FVP‐dose‐dependent trends were found in water‐holding capacity, where a reduction of 28.26% and 14.38% in thawing loss and cooking loss was observed in the 0.100% FVP group. Low‐field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF‐NMR) also revealed that immobilized water and free water were more tightly retained in the muscle tissue with FVP addition. The results of the sensory evaluation are essentially in line with the above observations. These findings indicate that FVP has the potential to partially replace commercial cryoprotectants in aquatic products during frozen storage.