QUALITY AND SHELF-LIFE ASSESSMENT OF UNDERUTILIZED MARINE GASTROPOD PICKLE

Abstract

ABSTRACT In India, oysters, clams, mussels and a few gastropods are local delicacies along the coastal region. Of these total catch, few marine gastropods are not utilized by the people because of lack of awareness about the rich nutritive value of the seafood products. Keeping this in mind, an attempt was made to study the shelf life of the pickled product developed from gastropods such as Chicoreus ramosus and Hemifusus pugilinus for a period of 8 and 6 months at ambient temperature (30 ± 2C). The acceptability of gastropod pickles decreased as free fatty acid, trimethylamine nitrogen, total volatile base nitrogen, total plate count and sensory scores increased (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05) at the end of storage period. It is ready-to-eat product, and it can be stored for a period of 8 and 6 months for C. ramosus and H. pugilinus pickle, respectively. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Fish pickling has been one of the most popular traditional preservation methods in India. Fishes are mainly preserved by using tamarind, spices, salt and acetic acid as pickling agents. These seafood pickles are safe without any harmful bacteria and have a long shelf-life period for more than 6 months at ambient temperature. However, gastropods are not familiar seafood and are consumed only by certain section of fishing population in India. They are fished mainly for their beautiful shells and operculum. The shells are used as ornaments and also used in lime industry. The operculum is used in Indian traditional medicine. For better utilization of these underutilized marine gastropods, pickled products were developed from Chicoreus ramosus and Hemifusus pugilinus. This present study would reveal the quality of pickled products and concluded that it can be stored for a period of 8 and 6 months.