## 1 Introduction  
_Culter alburnus_, also called as topmouth cutler, is an important Chinese freshwater fish due to its abundant availability and consumption [1]. It has higher nutritional values, low cholesterol and low polyunsaturated fatty acids that make it important for preservation and commercialization. Freezing and frozen storage is one of the widely used method for long term preservation of fish with minimum deteriorative changes in the quality. Frozen storage inhibits enzymatic activity, chemical reactions and crystallization in order to prevent deteriorative changes [2]. However, during frozen storage, fish proteins undergo various changes that can affect the quality of fish, such as protein and lipid oxidation, resulting in protein denaturation and aggregation. Moreover, the uncontrolled formation of ice crystals causes protein denaturation and results in more water-soluble proteins [3,4]. Fish are comprised of different proteins such as sarcoplasmic, myofibrillar and stromal proteins. Myofibrillar proteins (MPs) is the most important proteins, and account for 65-75% of total proteins. Some properties of fish MPs that deteriorate during frozen storage, such as water-holding capacity and gel-forming abilities, are connected with the formation of disulfide bonds and the exposure to hydrophobic residues [5]. These changes can be prevented with the addition of different cryoprotectants. Various cryoprotectants have been reported in many studies to prevent freeze-induced changes in proteins [6].  
The more widely used cryoprotectants include saccharides and polyphosphates. The hydroxyl groups in saccharide molecules can react with certain groups of protein molecules to avoid aggregation and denaturation between protein molecules, and can change the state of bound water embedded in protein molecules [7]. Sucrose and sorbitol are the most commercially used cryoprotectants, however, they impart a sweet taste, which is undesirable to consumers. Therefore, low-sweetness alternative cryoprotectants have received increasing attention in the surimi industries.  
Cyclodext (CDs) are cyclic oligosaccharides composed of glucopyranose groups. Adding CDs as cryoprotectants to MPs can improve the stability of MPs during freezing. CDs can form complexes with macromolecules through hydrophobic interactions or hydrogen bonding [8]. The CDs containing 7 glucopyranose units include \(\beta\)-cyclodextrinurin (\(\beta\)CD).  
[PERSON] et al. [9] have reported the protective effect of adding egg white proteins (EWP) and \(\beta\)CD to MPs during frozen storage. But as the main protein component of EWP, ovalbumin (OVA), OVA can better reflect the functional characteristics of EWP. OVA is a high-quality protein due to its excellent functional properties, which can improve the characteristics of MPs by filling the gaps and making the gel structure denser [10,11]. No study has reported on the use of OVA/\(\beta\)CD as a potential cryoprotectant and its structural, gelling and water mobility characteristics in association with antioxidative properties. Therefore, this study will further analyze the cryoprotective effect of OVA/\(\beta\)CD on _Culter alburnus_ MPs to broaden the range of research utilization of OVA.  
The main objective of this study was to analyze the effect of OVA/\(\beta\)CD on the structure, rheology and gel properties of MPs during 90 days of frozen storage. The results demonstrate the broad potential of the OVA/\(\beta\)CD mixture as a promising new cryoprotectant to extend the economic value of _Culter alburnus_, which has not been reported before in the surimi or seafood industries.