## 3 Results and Discussion
### Gelling Characteristics
#### 3.4.2 Expressible Drip  
The expressible drip of gels made from unwashed mince was 8.14%, but after one washing cycle (W1), it dropped to 5.37% (Table 2). Surimi prepared with two (W2) and three (W3) washing cycles (_p_ < 0.05) had the lowest expressible drip. This corresponded to surimi gels having a higher gel strength (Table 2). According to [PERSON] et al. (2017), the expressible drip of _Pangasius hypophthalmus_ surimi decreased with the increasing in the  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c} \hline \hline
**Sample** & **Unwashed** & **W1** & **W2** & **W3** \\ \hline Appearance & & & & \\ Breaking force (g) & 218.12 \(\pm\) 0.44c & 353.60 \(\pm\) 1.93b & 393.98 \(\pm\) 1.53a & 393.09 \(\pm\) 1.81a \\ Deformation (mm) & 10.06 \(\pm\) 0.36b & 10.83 \(\pm\) 0.34a & 11.20 \(\pm\) 0.58a & 11.26 \(\pm\) 0.31a \\ Gel strength (g-cm) & 219.32 \(\pm\) 3.67c & 382.71 \(\pm\) 17.04b & 436.32 \(\pm\) 25.23a & 442.17 \(\pm\) 23.97a \\ Expressible drip (\%) & 8.14 \(\pm\) 0.40c & 5.37 \(\pm\) 0.04b & 4.63 \(\pm\) 0.19a & 4.51 \(\pm\) 0.20a \\ Whiteness & 65.11 \(\pm\) 0.18c & 66.44 \(\pm\) 0.14b & 68.43 \(\pm\) 0.31a & 68.98 \(\pm\) 0.42a \\ TBARS (mg MDA equivalent/kg) & 0.73 \(\pm\) 0.04a & 0.67 \(\pm\) 001b & 0.59 \(\pm\) 0.01c & 0.57 \(\pm\) 0.04c \\ Fishy odor score * & 9.03 \(\pm\) 0.45a & 4.43 \(\pm\) 1.12b & 2.27 \(\pm\) 1.17c & 1.37 \(\pm\) 0.98c \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Values are given as mean \(\pm\) standard deviation from triplicate determinations except for fishy odor scores (_n_ = 10). Different letters in the same row indicate significant differences (_p_ < 0.05). W1 = one-washing cycle, W2 = two-washing cycle, W3 = three-washing cycle, and MDA = malondialdehydedehyde. * A score of 0 represented “none” while 10 represented “strong”.  
\end{table}
Table 2: Gelling properties of Indian mackerel unwashed mince and surimi prepared by different washing cycles.  
number of washing cycles. When compared to unwashed mince, the expressible drip of surimi gel from threadin bream decreased from 29.47% to 19.73%, resulting in an increase in gel strength from 304.39 to 604.47 g-cm, according to [PERSON] et al. [47].  
A good surimi gel is required to create three-dimensional networks of myofibrillar proteins that are stabilized by numerous covalent and non-covalent interactions. The term \"expressible drip\" is commonly used to characterize surimi gel's ability to hold water [7]. It is an indication of changes in the molecular structure and electrical charge of myofibrillar proteins, and pH is a critical factor [47]. The ability of surimi gels to hold water may be improved by increasing surimi pH after washing, which is shifted away from the isoelectric point (pI) of myofibrillar proteins (pH \(\sim\) 5.5). The agglutination of proteins occurs when the pH is close to pI, resulting in the release of water. After the pH declined to near its pI, the gel-forming ability was reduced [8; 9]. The pH of unwashed mince (Table 1) was 6.31, which was near the pI of myofibrillar proteins (pH 5.5). Therefore, the gel's breaking force and water holding capacity were the lowest. Furthermore, the microstructural characteristics of gel may be linked to its water holding capacity (see Section 3.4.7).