Quality and Shelf Life of Sodium-Acetate-Treated Seer Fish (Scomberomorus commerson) Steaks Packed in EVOH Pouches During Chilled Storage

Abstract

The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of sodium-acetate dip treatment (2%) on the quality and shelf life of seer fish (Scomberomorus commerson) steaks during chilled condition. For this, the seer fish steaks were packed in multilayered EVOH pouches having oxygen permeability of 3.86 cc m−2 24 h−1 at 1 atm. pressure and water vapour transmission rate of 139.02 g m−2 24 h−1 at 37 °C and 92% RH, and maintained at 1–2 °C for quality evaluation. The initial mesophilic and psychrotrophic bacterial load of the seer fish steaks was 4.48 and 4.47 log cfu g−1, respectively, which showed a lag phase in treated samples compared to control. The limit of 7 log cfu g−1 was exceeded on 15 and 24th days for seer fish steaks in control air pack and NaA-treated samples, respectively, for both mesophilic and psychrotrophic counts. Lipid oxidation was significantly higher for control sample compared to treated sample throughout the storage period. Formation of volatile bases and degradation of nucleotide breakdown products were significantly (P < 0.05) inhibited in the sodium-acetate-treated samples resulting in a shelf life of 21 days compared to only 12 days for control samples.