Fish Processing & Preservation
Fish Processing & Preservation
Fish Processing & Preservation
Dr.J.P.Srivastava
Assistant Professor
Department of Zoology
D.B.S.College, Kanpur
CSJM UNIVERTY
FISH PROCESSING
INTRODUCTION
• Fish preservation is a very important aspect of the fisheries.
• Normally the fish farms or other fish capturing sites are
located far off from the market place and there is chance of
fish decomposition and the uncertainties of their sale in
market.
• When the fishes are caught in numbers, greater than the
amount of consumption, their preservation becomes a
necessity for their future use.
• Preservation and processing, therefore become a very
important part of commercial fisheries.
• It is done in such a manner that the fishes remain fresh for
a long time, with a minimum loss of flavour, taste, odour,
nutritive value and the digestibility of their flesh.
FISH PROCESSING
Cleaning
Chilling Gutting
Salting
Smoking
Canning
Preservation for short duration
Chilling
• This is obtained by covering the fish
with layers of ice. However, ice
alone is not effective for long
preservation, because melting
water brings about a sort of
leaching of valuable flesh contents
which are responsible for the Alternate layers of fish and ice are
kept in closed vessels to maintain
flavour.
the temperature at 0°C. Sometimes
• But ice is effective for short term for the preservation of large-sized
preservation such as is needed to fishes, the ice pieces or cubes are
transport landed fish to nearby also kept in the abdominal cavity of
gutted fishes. This is a cheaper and
markets or to canning factories, etc. more convenient method of fish
• Here autolytic enzymatic activities preservation and is widely used for
are checked by lowering the fish transport from one place to
another for a short distance.
BOX
Fishes
Ice
SALTING
Drying
• Drying involves dehydration i.e. the removal of moisture contents of fish, so that the
bacterial decomposition or enzymic autolysis does not occur.
• When moisture contents reduce up to 10%, the fishes are not spoiled provided they are
stored in dry conditions.
• Fish drying is achieved either naturally or by artificial means.
Natural drying
• In natural drying the fishes after being caught are washed and dried in the sunshine.
• They are suspended or laid out flat on the open ground.
• The process, however, has a number of disadvantages.
• It is slow and results in much loss, through putrefaction.
• It can be carried out only in dry, well aerated climate receiving sunshine which is not
too hot.
• It, thus depends upon the environmental factors and availability of space.
• Lastly only the thin fishes can be preserved by this method, because the fat fishes
have much flesh allowing bacterial decomposition to continue in deeper parts of their
body.
• An additional disadvantage is that dried fishes require a long soaking period to
restore water and that the sun dried fishes are not usually relished.
• The larger fishes are cut into pieces for easy drying.
• However, this method is not perfect for longer preservation
• Sun curing:
• It is a little bit advanced method over simple sun drying in
which the body of fish is opened from the ventral side and
viscera and gills are removed. Then the fish is washed and
salted in the ratio of 1: 3 to 1: 8 (salt: fish) which is related to
the size of the fish.
• Mona curing:
• It is similar to sun curing but the difference is that no incision
is made in the body of the fish to remove the intestine and
gills.
• These organs are directly removed from the mouth.
• Further, such eviscerated fishes are cleaned, salted, and
dried as earlier.
• Wet curing:
• It is also like sun curing with the only difference in the packing
of salted fish as such. This method is used only for fatty fish.
Smoking
• The process in which fishes are preserved by the treatment of wood smoke
is called smoking.
• This permits the preparation of delicate specialties.
• While using this method the temperature of the smoke and its rate of
circulation should be controlled.
• Smoking is again of two types;
1. Hot smoking and
2. Cold smoking.
For cold smoking,
• fishes are dried, salted, exposed to the smokeless fire (38°C), and then
processed for real smoke at 28°C.
For the hot smoking process,
• fresh fish is used and fish are subjected at 130°C on strong fire which is
followed by smoking at 40°C.
• Industrial smoking is done in galleries with a smoking installation and a
system for the proper circulation of smokes.
• This method was used to preserve the fish in World War II but it is not
recommended in the present-day fish industries.
Canning:
• Canning is the expensive process of fish preservation and
hence it is not commonly used.
• However, it is widely used in advanced countries like
America, France, Japan, and Spain.
• This is a lengthy, complicated but very advanced process
of preservation.
• In this process, the best quality fishes are selected and
their heads and viscera are removed.
• Then these eviscerated fishes are treated with brine
(saltwater), washed, dried, and cooked in olive oil.
• This process is used to remove excess water for 2 to 5
minutes.
• Then the cooked fishes are packed in olive oil in tins and
sealed and sent to markets
DEMERITS OF FISH PRESERVATION
Although the preservation and processing constitute a very important aspect of the
fish industry, it has certain draw backs;
1. Chilling brings about denaturation of flesh. This is because of ice crystals formed
during chilling and causing mechanical damage to the muscles. Cell walls burst,
structure gets deformed and the flesh loses much of flavour and taste. The flesh
also becomes dehydrated and losses texture
2. If proper hygienic measures are not taken during the processes like washing,
guttation and evisceration, etc. more harm would be done to the preserved
material, owing to increase in the bacteria population.
3. Incomplete or poor preservation leads to decarboxylation of histidine of fish flesh
into histamine. The latter some other related substances, collectively called saurine,
are common causes of food poisoning.
4. Drying reduces weight, nutritive value and the digestibility of the flesh.
5. Excess salting allows growth of salt tolerant bacteria, causing pink eye spoilage
of fish flesh.
6. Salting combined with smoking results in loss of protein, about 1 to 5 % due to
salting and 8 to 30 % due to smoking.
7. Smoking also accelerates rancidity of fat and so reduces digestibility of fat
products.
8. Canning leads to much loss of vitamin B1, panthotenic acid, vitamin-C and
pteroxylglutamic acid .