89A-7 |
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Y. LU, J. L. Silva, and T. Kim. Dept. of Food Science, Nutrition & Health Promotion, Mississippi State Univ., 110 Herzer Bldg., Mailstop 9805, Mississippi State, MS 39762-9805 Initial quality of catfish fillets, including microbial loads, influences its shelf-life and consumer acceptance. There are many factors that affect shelf-life, but processing operation and season of the year could be important ones. Icing is a common practice with fresh seafood but it is expensive for transportation and may result in an unpleasant product when melted. The objective of this experiment is to examine the influence of source and storage type (ice vs. no ice) on the shelf-life of catfish fillets. Fresh catfish fillets were sampled from three randomly chosen sources (factories) at different months of the year. They were refrigerated (4oC) either on ice (WI) or no ice (WO). Aerobic (APC), psychrotrophic (PPC) and coliform (TCC) counts, Hunter color values, shear and compression force, and sensory scores on overall acceptability, off-odor, color and texture of fresh fillets were evaluated periodically until the end of shelf-life of the fillets. Internal temperature averaged 2.5 and 3.7C for WI and WO fillets. Initial APC, PPC, TCC and sensory scores of fresh fillets varied with source and season. Hunter L, a, b and shear force did not vary with source/season. During nine days of storage, APC, PPC, TCC, Hunter color values, shear and compression forces and sensory scores on overall acceptability, color and texture did not vary with source/season. However, shelf-life of WI fillets was doubled that of WO fillets. The PPC were a better predictor of shelf-life of WO fillets, but APC and PPC were both effective predictors of WI fillets. It was shown that ice is a very important factor in shelf-life of catfish fillets, not only by maintaining a lower and uniform temperature during the life of the product. The source and season influence initial quality and influence shelf-life of the fillets.
Session 89A, Aquatic Food Products: General
2005 IFT Annual Meeting, July 15-20 - New Orleans, Louisiana |