Title: The effects of different raw materials and gel forming conditions on the quality of fish cakes from minced redfish.

Nowadays, fish cakes are not only popular products in Asian markets but also consumed widely in many countries in the world. Shortage of fresh fish for producing fish cakes has been a great concern of producers. This study aimed to evaluate quality of fish cakes prepared from fresh redfish mince (January 2016), 1-month old frozen redfish mince (December 2015) and 6- month-old frozen redfish mince (July 2015) and in forming conditions of chilled temperature (0 – 4 °C) and room temperature (18 - 20°C) during 4 weeks under chilled storage. The sampling points were 0, 2 and 4 weeks. Results indicated that there were no significant differences in sensory scores, pH, breaking force, hardness of fish cakes made from fresh redfish mince compared to those made from frozen redfish mince. Shear force of fish cake made from fresh mince was higher than that from frozen mince. The different forming conditions did not cause changes in colour, pH, and lipid compounds of fish cakes (with an exception for TBARS value). Forming at 18 – 20 °C brought higher breaking force and shear force of fish cakes than those formed at 0 – 4 °C. Breaking force and hardness increased after second week of storage. Changes in FFA during 4 weeks under chilled storage were not great for all fish cake groups. TBARS showed a marked increase after cooking and during chilled storage. PV of fish cakes increased significantly after cooking and up to 2 weeks of storage before it dropped at the fourth week. Increase in phospholipid of fish cakes from frozen mince was faster than those from fresh mince throughout the storage time. Generally, one-month and six-month frozen redfish mince can be used to produce fish cake of a quality equivalent to that of fresh mince. Forming at 18 - 20 °C brought some advantages for improving the textural properties of fish cake.