SEA 



SCIENCE 



The solution, offered by NC State 

 University's food science department, was a 

 cold-binding technology that created 

 uniformly sized medallions from scallops 

 naturally only a quarter- to half-inch wide. 

 This meeting of technology and marketing, 

 which can be applied to other types of 

 seafood, was funded through the 1997 

 Fishery Resource Grant Program adminis- 

 tered by North Carolina Sea Grant. 



Here's how the system works: The 

 main protein component is fibrinogen, which 

 is found in all muscle food. In this case, it's 



The diameter of 

 the casings determines 

 the scallops' width. 



Once mixed with the gelling binder, the 

 scallops are stuffed into long casings 1 inch 

 in diameter. Wider casings can be used to 

 produce larger scallops. They're chilled for 

 six to 12 hours and sliced to a prescribed 

 thickness. At that stage, they can be 

 packaged fresh. 



"People don't like to eat small pieces of 

 meat," Lanier says. "The beauty of this 

 process is the simplicity of it. It's such a 

 simple thing to do, and yet it adds so much 

 value to the product." 



Using this method, food processors can 



The scallops 

 are cut to a 

 prescribed thickness. 



a wider range of tastes because spices and 

 flavors can be added while restructuring the 

 meat. The texture can also be adjusted. 



The scallop medallions are sold to food 

 distributors and food services, retail chains 

 and grocery clubs throughout the United 

 States and Europe. They were featured in 

 March at the International Boston Seafood 

 Show, the largest seafood trade show in the 

 world, which attracts more than 1,100 

 exhibitors and 20,000 seafood professionals 

 to sample, compare and buy seafood 

 products and services. 



The result: 

 thick medallions that 

 can be sold fresh. 



extracted from beef plasma. When mixed 

 with an enzyme from meat, fibrinogen forms 

 a gel network around the surface of the 

 scallops and holds them together. 



"It uses currently available technology, 

 but its successful application in fishery 

 products still had to be demonstrated," says 

 Green. 



Because the binder acts at refrigerated 

 temperatures, it doesn't require cooking to 

 make a protein gel. This gel is used to glue 

 together small scallops, and it represents less 

 than 5 percent of the final product. 



"This binding chemistry is a very 

 naturally occurring reaction," Lanier says. 

 "We've been studying it for years in surimi- 

 based crabmeat substitutes made from fish. It 

 does exactly the same thing." 



take scallops as small as 120 count per 

 pound and create scallops as large as 30 per 

 pound, says Sam Daniels, director of sales 

 and marketing for the family-owned 

 Wanchese Fish Co. The value of the product 

 is doubled at a small cost to the processor. 

 On the wholesale market, re-formed 

 medallions are sold at $4 to $5 per pound — 

 a better value than single scallops of the 

 same size. 



"What we're able to do is increase the 

 value of the product by changing the size of 

 it," Daniels says. "Without the help of North 

 Carolina State University, I don't think we 

 could have made this a successful venture." 



Processors can also ensure a consistent 

 quality, shape and size, which is important 

 in the food industry. And the process offers 



This blending of technology and mar- 

 keting is one of the many success stories 

 funded through the Fishery Resource Grant 

 Program, which pays qualified applicants to 

 research their ideas about improving fishery 

 resources. The General Assembly funds the 

 program each year, setting aside $1 million 

 for citizen studies. 



This research has supported a master's 

 thesis by Kim Baker, a graduate student at 

 NC State University's food science depart- 

 ment. Meanwhile. Lanier is experimenting 

 with ways to restructure trimmings and 

 small pieces of crab and fish meat, and he's 

 studying the use of proteins other than beef 

 fibrinogen. Among them is casein from 

 milk, the main protein found in coffee whit- 

 eners. □ 



COASTWATCH 25 



