Effect of power ultrasound on the immunoactivity and texture changes of shrimp (Penaeus vannamei)

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of power ultrasound on the allergenicity and texture properties of shrimp (Penaeus vannamei). For this purpose, raw and boiled shrimps were treated with power ultrasound (30 kHz, 800 W) at 0°C and 50°C for 0, 2, 8, 10, and 30 minutes. The results showed that the ultrasound treatment had a greater effect on the allergenicity of the boiled shrimps than of the raw ones, while with hardness it was vice versa. The allergenicity of the boiled shrimps treated at 0°C (treatment 3) and 50°C (treatment 4) decreased by nearly 50% and 40%, respectively, with 10 min of the treatment duration. As for the raw shrimps, with the treatment at 0°C (treatment 1) their allergenicity increased in the first 10 min and then decreased, while at 50°C (treatment 2), a slight reduction of 8% in allergenicity occurred. After treating with ultrasound for 30 min the hardness in treatment 1 increased to a peak-1.5-fold higher than the control, compared with 27% increase in treatment 2 and 15% increase in treatments 3 and 4. The results suggest that allergenicity can be reduced by power ultrasound with no change in the texture.