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Studies on smoke curing of tropical

Item Type article

Authors Devadasan, K.; Muraleedharan, V.; Joseph, K.G.

Download date 01/10/2021 23:42:30

Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/1834/33671 NOTE H

STUDIES ON SMOKE CURING OF TROPICAL FISHES

In spite of the tremendous progress prejudice among the local processors engagea made by our and industries, in curing against chemical preservatives, curing still continues to be a very important it has not yet become very popular. So, method of in our coun- as an alternative, a well known natural try. This is especially so for our internal preservative and food additive viz; turm- market, since our freezing and canning eric was tried as preservative for such industries are completley export oriented. products. This treatment is found to But surprisingly, smoke curing, a simple increase the storage life of the final smoked and efficient method, is not yet very products, besides imparting an attractive popular among our fish curers. appearance. is a favourite method of curing in the Far East and Continental countries, where a Fresh fish [ (Rastrelliger veriety of smoked products like , kanagurta) cat fish (Tachisurus dussumeri) , Red , , pale cure and sole (Cynoglossus dubis)] were pro- Finnan, Golden cutlets, Scotch fillets, Smo- cured from local fish landing centres. kies etc. are prepared. Extensive studies They were gutted, cleaned and washed. In have also been conducted there on the the case of sole the upper hard skin was various aspects of this method of curing removed before washing. The cleaned fish (Shewan 1945, 1949 ; louse and Cutting, were first brined for uniform uptake. 1956 ; Cutting 1951 ; Simpson 1961 ; Foster In pale cures, salt is used mainly for the and Simpson 1961 ; Simpson and Campbell formation of a surface pellicle and also as 1962; Linton and French 1945). However a condiment. Though it contributes to the very little attention has been given in quality of the smoked products, salt does India to develop this method of fish not appear to prevent bacterial growth or curing (Moorjani et al. 1972; Solanki et al. spoilage at low concentrations (Weekel 1970). This note reports results of a study and Wosje 1966, F A 0 Report). ut in on smoke curing of some of our common heavily salted products salt is found to food fishes. have a definite preservative actio . The effet of pH and temperature on the action The relatively shorter storage life of of salt has already been reviewed by smoke cured products when compared to Ingram and Kitchell (1967). The salt dry cured products, and the early onset uptake. during brining depends on various of fungus and mites are the main reasons factors like age and size of fish, concen- for their lesser popularity. The use of tration of , temperature of brine, sodium propionate has been found to be duration of brining, ratio of the weight very effective in enhancing their storage of fish brined to the weight of brine etc. life. tut because of the difficulty in pro- It was found from experiments that brin- curing this chemical and also due to the ing by dipping the fish in an equal amount

Vol, 12 No. 1 1975 77 Deoadasar, Muraleedharan & George Joseph.: (Studies on smoke curing of tropical fishes

TABLE I Initial Analysis of smoked samples 1. Control 2. Propionate treated 3. Turmeric treated Mackerel Sole Cat fish 1 2 3 1 2 3 2 3 Moisture 21.94 15.54 15.32 21.98 13.95 13.64 15.14 16.82 16.14 Chloride % DW is 11.50 12.82 11.98 10.28 11.93 10.92 10.98 11.12 11.88

(W/V) of saturated brine for 15 minutes conducted at regular intervals to follow at room temperature, prior to smoking, is the course of their spoilage. Moisture and quite satisfactory for reasonably uniform chloride were estimated according to A. and sufficiently high salt uptake. 0. A. C. (1960) procedures and total vo- latile nitrogen by the method of Conway The control sample was dipped in (1947). saturated brine and the experimental sam- ples were dipped in (1) saturated brine containing 3% sodium propionate, (2) a In all the three cases, smoked products saturated extract of turmeric in water of good appearance and taste were obta- containing salt to saturation. The turme- ined. The turmeric Crated samples had a ric extract was prepared by boiling sufficient very attractive appearance especially in the turmeric powder in water, cooling it to case of sole. The samples had a moisture room temperature and then saturating it content of 15-20% and salt content of with solid refined salt. All these dip 10 - 12% (Table I). The course of spoilage treated samples were then drained well. in these products as followed by changes in the total volatile nitrogen content is given The well drained fish were then smoked in Table 11. In all cases the control samples in a laboratory model smoke kiln, in which were spoiled within 3 months. ut the turme- the fish were hung from hooks. Smoke ric and propionate treated samples remained was generated by burning coconut husks in good condition for over 6 months. The and saw dust. The smoking was continued products had a high salt content which is for about 5 hrs. in the case of mackerel. found essential for its storage life. Propi- In the case of sole 4 hours smoking was onate had a slightly better antifungal action found to be sufficient. Further increase but this is apparent only after 5 months, in the smoking time was found to impart until which time turmeric also gives equally an undesirable taste to the product. After good preservation, as is evident from the this the fish were taken out and dried data given in the table. This storage life in sun to a moisture level of about is quite sufficient for all practical purposes. 20%. The smoked and dried products Along with its abundant availability were then cooled to room temperature and and easy acceptability to the layman makes stored as such in dry air tight bottles. turmeric an ideal preservative for smoke Periodic analysis of these products were cured products.

78 Fish. Te chno C.)

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79 Deoadasan, Muraleedharan & George Joseph: Studies on smoke curing of tropical fisfies

The authors wish to acknowledge their Foster W. and T. H. Simpson. 1961. J. indebtedness to Shri. M. R. Nair, Fishery Sci. Fd Agric., 12, 9:635. Scientist (Processing), Central Institute of House, C. T. and C. L. Cutting. 1956. Technology, Ernakulam, Cochin Fd Mf, 31 : 427. for his keen interest in the work. Ingram, M. and A. G. Kitchell. 1967. They are also thankuful to Shri. G. K. J. Food Technol., 2 : 1. Kuriyan, Director, Central Institute of Fish- Linton, E. P. and H. V. French. 1945. eries Technology, Cochin -11, for his kind J. Fish. Res. Bd Can, 6, 4:338. permission to publish this note. The tech- ical assistance of Shri. P. Sadanandan Moorjani, M. N. and Vasantha. 1972. of this Laboratory is gratefully acknow- Sea Food Export Journal., 4, 3:25. ledged. Shewan, J. M. 1945. Chemy Ind., 32, REFERENCES 13:98.

A. 0. A. C. 1960. Official methods of Shewan, J, M. 1962. Chemy Ind., p. 501. Analysis., 9th Edn. Association of Simpson, T. H. and D. Campbell. 1962. • iii cial Agricultural Chemists, Wash- Methods of analysis of smoke deposits., ington 4, D. C. Yugoslavia meat Industry. ielgard, Special Edition. Conway, E. J. 1947. Microdifusion. Ana- lysis and Volumetric Errors., Crossby Simpson, T. H. 1961. Fd Mf, 36, 3. Lockwod and sons, London. Solanki, K. K., M. K. Kandoran and R. Cutting C. L. 1954. Fishing News., No. Venkataraman. 1970. Fish. Technol„ 1984:11. 7, 2:169.

FA • . 1970. Smoke curing of fish., Fish- Weckel, K. G. and D. Wosge. 1966. Brine eries Report No. 88:43. of great lake chub for smoking., University of Wisconsin, College of Foster W. and T. H. Simpson. 1961. J. Agriculture, Madison, Research Re- Sei. Ed Agric., 12, 5:363. port, 24.

Central Institute of Fisheries. Technology Unit, K. Devadasan, West Hill, V. Muraleedharan, Calicut-673005. K. George Joseph.

80 Fish. Technol.