Effect of Smoking and Storage Conditions on the Quality and Acceptability of Smoked Catfish (Clarias gariepinus)

Abstract

Background: This study was carried out to investigate the effect of smoking conditions on the quality attributes and consumer acceptability of the smoked catfish (Clarias gariepinus). Methods: The samples were divided into four equal portions and smoked. Sample FAD: smoked with charcoal for 2 hrs at 89°C; Sample SPA: smoked with charcoal for 2 hrs 15 min at 85°C; Sample ADF: smoked with wood for 1 hr and 30 min at 120°C; Sample PAS: smoked with wood for 1 hr 45 min at 105°C. Smoked samples were analyzed for free fatty acid (FFA), thiobarbituric acid (TBA), trimethylamine (TMA), total volatile base-Nitrogen (TVB-N) and sensory scores using standard methods. Result: The results showed that the FFA values increased as the storage day increases from 2.67-5.40, 2.47-5.90, 2.83-5.23 and 2.7 -5.33 for ADF, FAD, PAS and SPA respectively from 0-day to 15 day. TBA values in this study were within the range of 0.01-0.19, 0.01-0.20, 0.02-0.19 and 0.01-0.19 for ADF, FAD, PAS and SPA respectively from 0-day to 15 day. TVB-N values in this study showed sample ADF reduced from 0.63-2.37, 0.67-2.23, 0.70-2.57 and 0.67-2.33 for ADF, FAD, PAS and SPA respectively from 0-day to 15 day. The sensory evaluation results also showed high sensory scores for colour, aroma, texture and overall acceptability. There was significant difference (p greater than 0.05) between the samples for colour but there was no significant difference (p less than 0.05) between the samples for aroma, texture and overall acceptability. However, sample PAS was more preferred to other samples.