Factors influencing post-mortem quality, safety and storage stability of mackerel species: a review

Abstract

Consumers’ demand for fishery products and attentiveness of seafood quality continue to grow. The perishability of mackerel species and the potential risk of foodborne illness demands adequate control of production, processing, storage and distribution to ensure post-mortem quality, safety and storage stability. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing the quality changes in mackerel raw material from capture/slaughter, post-mortem handling and to storage. The main topics include effects of the muscle composition, capture/slaughter methods and handling onboard fishing vessels and at landing, e.g. bleeding. Concerning frozen storage, the literature included in this review demonstrates the importance of raw material properties, storage temperature and freezing methods for maintaining the product quality and the storage stability of mackerel. Thawing is another important aspect which requires optimization with respect to several factors e.g. raw material properties and in adaption to production and processing capacity. Since mackerel muscle contains a high amount of free histidine, temperature control through the complete supply chain is essential to prevent the formation and accumulation of toxic histamine which can lead to scombroid food poisoning. For storage stability and shelf life extension, efficiency of glazing and use of antioxidants and reduced-oxygen packaging are discussed.