Commercially Low-Valued Fish-Based Surimi Analogue Popcorn: Ready-to-Fry Snack Product

The global demand for healthier food items is increasing the food industry to enhance nutritional value by incorporating protein and lipid-rich components.

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Abstract

The incorporation of fish proteins rich in amino acids lysine and methionine via partial substitution of corn flour is predicted to improve the nutritional value of popcorn. Surimi is an enriched myofibrillar protein derived from fish flesh by washing and isolating it from bones, skin, and guts using cryoprotectant. In the advanced food technology, surimi has the potential to aid the industry in the formulation of surimi inclusion value-added products. Surimi has been utilised economically to generate highly valuable aquatic alternatives like crab meat, scallops, and shrimp analogues. To meet the consumer's choice for high-protein and fibre-rich ready-to-fry foods. Consumers acquire nourishment from fish, which also contributes to economic empowerment and growth in a country with the goal of gaining a belief and independent income in order to battle inequality, livelihood uncertainty and societal obstacles.

Introduction

Fish is a protein-rich, easily digestible diet that contains polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids, supplements, and mineral content. A significant portion of total landed fish is neglected because of basic challenges such as undesirable colour, flavour, texture, small size, and excessive fat content. The majority of these fish are pelagic species, but others are unusual. To avoid post-harvest fishery losses, it is recognised that they must be conserved and used for human use. The most promising approaches could involve meat recovery through mechanised deboning and the creation of products with added value (Singh et al., 2025). Value addition is an important part of the food manufacturing sector since it involves any operation that changes the attributes of a product, raising its worth at the point of sale. Adding value to items modifies them out of their initial form, prompted by the desire for diversifying and higher revenue via quality-added fishery products.