In this study,the effects of different concentrations of linoleic acid(0,10,20,and 50 mmol/L)for mediating oxidation on the gel strength,gel water retention,and gel water distribution of golden pompano myofibrillar protein through constructing a linoleic acid-mediated golden pompano fish flesh oxidation system.The results showed that the effect of oxidation on the gel properties was most obvious at a linoleic acid concentration of 10 mmol/L,with the centrifugal loss and cooking loss reaching the smallest(5.39%and 5.94%,respectively),while the gel strength reaching the maximum value(333.24 g).With the increase of linoleic acid concentration,the carbonyl content of myofibrillar protein increased from 2.86 nmol/mg to 6.65 nmol/mg,and the total sulfhydryl group content decreased from 63.58 nmol/mg to 58.69 nmol/mg.The molecular weight change revealed that with the increase of the degree of protein oxidation,the surface hydrophobicity and intrinsic fluorescence intensity showed a tendency of initial increase then decrease,indicating that moderate linoleic acid oxidation(≤10 mmol/L)could cause protein molecules to unfold moderately,forming a gel product with good textural properties and high water retention;whilst excessive linoleic acid oxidation(>10 mmol/L)caused excessive oxidation of proteins,leading to cross-linking of protein molecules and aggregation of protein molecules,thereby declining the textural properties of protein gels.This study elucidates the effects of linoleic acid oxidation on the post-processing characteristics of golden pomfret and promote the development of the golden pomfret industry.