Abstract:Unrinsed surimi has poor gel strength and degrades easily.In this study，the influence of the rinsing process on gel properties of surimi was studied with tilapia as the raw material.The results showed that compared with the unrinsed surimi，the whiteness value of rinsed surimi was 52.95，the water holding rate was increased to 91.06%，and the gel strength reached 3 839.3 g·mm.The hardness and chewability of unrinsed surimi were significantly higher than that of rinsed surimi，while the cohesion，resilience，and gel strength of rinsed surimi were better.Rheological analysis showed that the final storage modulus of surimi after rinsing reached 4 867.94 Pa，representing an increase of 22.95%.Magnetic resonance imaging revealed that the content of non-flowing water in rinsed surimi was high and the gel structure was relatively dense.After rinsing，the β-folding of surimi gel was more stable，and a certain degree of cross-linking between proteins occurred.The surimi gel network structure became complete and the gel strength improved.Rinsing affects the gel properties and secondary structure of tilapia surimi，with improved gel quality of tilapia surimi.