Fresh Fish Degradation and Advances in Preservation Using Physical Emerging Technologies

Abstract

Fresh fish is a highly perishable food characterized by a short shelf-life, and for this reason, it must be properly handled and stored to slow down its deterioration and to ensure microbial safety and marketable shelf-life. Modern consumers seek fresh-like, minimally processed foods due to the raising concerns regarding the use of preservatives in foods, as is the case of fresh fish. Given this, emergent preservation techniques are being evaluated as a complement or even replacement of conventional preservation methodologies, to assure food safety and extend shelf-life without compromising food safety. This paper reviews the main mechanisms responsible for fish spoilage and the use of conventional physical methodologies to preserve fresh fish, encompassing the main effects of each methodology on microbiological and chemical quality aspects of this highly perishable food. In this sense, conventional storage procedures (refrigeration and freezing) are counterpointed with more recent cold-based storage methodologies, namely chilling and superchilling. In addition, the use of novel food packaging methodologies (edible films and coatings) is also presented and discussed, along with a new storage methodology, hyperbaric storage, that states storage pressure control to hurdle microbial development and slow down organoleptic decay at subzero, refrigeration, and room temperatures.

Chemical characteristics and volatile compounds profiles in different muscle part of the farmed hybrid catfish (Clarias macrocephalus × Clarias gariepinus)

“…TVB‐N involves the assessment of volatile basic nitrogenous compounds linked with off‐odour production, whilst TMA‐N generally has a fishy odour. The highest limit of acceptability for the TVB‐N is indicated to be 35 mg N/100 g, whereas the upper limit of acceptability for TMA‐N is normally about 10‐15 mg N/100 g (Tavares et al., 2021). Table 1 shows the TVB‐N and TMA‐N contents of farmed hybrid catfish dorsal, lateral line and ventral muscles.…”

Freeze-Chilling of Whitefish: Effects of Capture, On-Board Processing, Freezing, Frozen Storage, Thawing, and Subsequent Chilled Storage—A Review

“…Others have reviewed the effect of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) and vacuum packaging on shelf life and quality of fish [70][71][72][73]. It is well established that packaging both in vacuum or MAP can extend shelf-life of fish and fish products compared with storage in air [70,[74][75][76].…”

Effect of Smoking Methods and Refrigerated Storage on Physicochemical, Microbiological and Sensory Properties of the Sagan Fish

“…Total viable count (TVC): A good technique for fish preservation was used to prevent microbial spoilage of fish without affecting its quality and nutritional value (Ghaly et al, 2010;Odeyemi et al, 2020;Tavares et al, 2021). Therefore, the results in Table (3) illustrates the effect of cold storage on microbiological aspects of hot and cold smoked sagan samples.…”