Effects of salt and ice on the extension of shelf life of punti fish (puntius stigma, cuvier and valenciennes 1844) during short-term preservation

Abstract

The present study has been carried out to investigate the effects of salt (NaCl) and ice on the extension of shelf life of Puntius stigma during short-term preservation in brine with addition of ice. The fish have been kept at different salt concentrations (0, 4, 10 and 15%) and at two different storage temperatures (12 and 30ºC). The shelf life of the fish has been studied by measurement of TVN value and by sensory method.  The fish kept at 0% salt concentration at 30ºC has been found to have shelf life of 6.25 hours while at 15% salt concentration the fish have been found to have shelf life of 28 hours at the same storage temperature. Lowering the temperature to 12ºC with the addition of ice the fish kept at 0% salt concentration have been found to have shelf life of 28 hours and at 15% salt concentration, the  shelf life of the fish extended to 60 hours. Acceptable limit of the TVN value at 30ºC was found to be 38 mg/100 g fish. No correlation between sensory score and TVN value was observed during the preservation of the fish at 12ºC storage temperature. The present findings revealed that the increase of salt concentration and decrease of storage temperature during short-term preservation favors extension of shelf life of the fish.