Abstract
The current review investigates how whitefish quality is affected by capture at sea, on board handling, freezing, double freezing, frozen storage, thawing, and chilled storage. Packaging of fillets in MAP and vacuum are also covered. The main goal was to evaluate the freeze-chilling concept as a possible method for the fishing industry for all-year-round marketing of fish captured during the relatively short fishing period. The review covers both the effect of each processing step in the supply chain as well as the combined effect of all steps in the chain from sea to consumer, including post-thawing chilled storage, defined as the freeze-chilling method.
Highlights
The concept of freeze-chilling is commonly defined as freezing of food products before thawing and chilled storage in market
Double freezing is in the present context relevant when fish frozen at sea are thawed at processing plant before processing and re-freezing, as fillet products transported to the market (Figure 1)
It is well established that the intrinsic quality of whitefish depends on factors such as season, fishing ground, and fish size
Summary
The concept of freeze-chilling is commonly defined as freezing of food products (here whitefish) before thawing and chilled storage in market (fishmongers and supermarkets). Several studies have been conducted to improve fishing gear to obtain higher product quality of the catch. Quality in this context refers to various capture damages, which would mean an economic loss due to downgrading in the market. In an attempt to reduce the extent of external damages (gear marks, pressure injuries, skin discoloration, bruises and abrasion) to cod caught by trawl, Tveit et al [20] compared fish caught by the traditional gear with a two-panel knotted codend with a four-panel knotless codend. The results showed that buffer towing has significant negative impact on fish quality in terms of poor exsanguination, increased fillet redness, gear marks, and discoloration, bruises, and abrasion of skin. The pH in rested white muscle of cod is 7.6 ± 0.0 and the corresponding time to rigor onset is 18–20 h post mortem for fish stored in ice [30]
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