Effects of chitooligosaccharide on the physicochemical, textural and sensory properties of tofu

Chitinous polymers have been experimented with for the purpose of shelf-life extension of foods due to their antimicrobial activity. Food additives, however, may impair the taste, color or texture of foods. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the effect of a food additive on foods before it is used. In this study, we investigated how the physicochemical properties, microstructure, textural properties and sensory characteristics of tofu are affected by the addition of chitooligosaccharide during itspreparation. The addition of chitooligosaccharide to tofu did not significantly affect its physicochemical properties including moisture content, yield, turbidity and color. The chitooligosaccharide tofu, however, had lower hardness and smaller protein aggregates than the control tofu. The chitooligosaccharide did not influence most sensory attributes of tofu except for imparting a bitter taste.