Composition of perch roe and keeping quality of roe products during cold- and frozen-storage

Abstract

Proximate composition of whole roe bags and washed eggs of perch(Perca fluviatilis) was studied at different stages of maturity. Lipids and fatty acids of the roe were investigated in detail. Perch roe was processed using chemical preservatives, sugar, salt, and freezing and changes in the quality of the products were followed by chemical and sensory analyses during a one-year cold- and frozen-storage period. Mature roe as roe bags contained 13 % protein, 4 % fat and 1 % ash on wet weight basis. The amounts of protein and ash decreased somewhat when the roe was screened. The major lipids in perch roe were sterol and wax esters composing about 80 % of the total lipids. Polyenoic acids with dominant docosahexaenoic acid composed about half of the fatty acids in neutral lipids whereas saturated acids dominated in phospholipids. Frozen, washed roe was better in its quality during the one-year storage time as compared to heavy-salted, cold-stored roe containing preservatives which, in turn, was preferred to the light-salted, frozen roe or sugar-salted, cold-stored roe.