Abstract:To improve the poor gel strength of low-salt bay scallop adductor muscle surimi，the effects of transglutaminase （TGase），calcium lactate （CL），and their combination on gel properties of low-salt bay scallop adductor muscle surimi were investigated using fresh bay scallop adductor muscle as material. By taking the gel strength as an indicator，the appropriate addition amount of TGase and CL acting alone or in combination was screened out. Furthermore，the physicochemical indexes，gel structure，and protein structure of the three different treatments of scallop adductor muscle surimi were also compared. The results showed that the gel strength was 31.90，49.17，and 64.41 N·mm when 0.5% TGase，0.3% CL （calculated by calcium），and 0.3% TGase+0.3% CL（calculated by calcium） were added into low-salt （1%） bay scallop adductor muscle surimi，separately，which were significantly higher than the gel strength of the control group （12.12 N·mm） （P＜0.05） The synergistic addition could effectively enhance the whiteness of the gel，promote myosin heavy chain （MHC）degradation and cross-linking of amino acid residues，increase the hydrophobicity and Ca2+-ATPase activity of myofibrillar protein，weaken the degradation effect of adding CL on the elasticity of the gel，and reduce the amount of TGase. In conclusion，the synergistic effect of TGase and CL could significantly improve the gel strength and optimize the texture properties of bay scallop adductor muscle surimi gels.