Liquid Holding Capacity and Liquid Leakage of Raw Salmon and Trout Fillets

Liquid loss (i.e. loss of water and liquid fat) is an important property for salmonids when evaluating fish quality in production and as final product. It can be measured by several means, for example by liquid leakage or by liquid holding capacity. The present study examines how liquid leakage and liquid holding capacity of salmon and trout are influenced by fat content. Liquid leakage did not depend on fat content whereas the liquid holding capacity was lower for fish with high fat content. Thus the methods provide supplementary rather than equal information. Furthermore the water loss part was linear depending on liquid loss. The results indicate that fat is more loosely bound in trout than in salmon. These findings may be of immediate relevance to quality control of high-value fat fish products, to assessment of raw material properties, to an efficient treatment in the production and to process control.