QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF FARMED BLACK TIGER SHRIMP (PENAEUS MONODON) IN SUPPLY CHAIN: ORGANOLEPTIC EVALUATION

Abstract

ABSTRACT Organoleptic quality of the farmed shrimp (Penaeus monodon) throughout the supply chain was investigated under two conditions – normal practices using no ice and under experimental conditions using ice at the ratio of 1:1 (ice : shrimp). Overall, organoleptic acceptability score ranged between highly acceptable and moderately acceptable (shrimp farm = 8.8, depot = 5.47, commission agent = 6.67 and processing plant = 6.33 in a scale of 10) for shrimp under normal practices and a relatively better score and quality of shrimp under experimental conditions as judged by the organoleptic evaluation. The overall organoleptic score between the two experiments did not differ significantly (P ≤ 0.05). PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS From the moment the shrimp is caught, the deterioration process starts and its quality is affected. The most frequent problem is temperature fluctuation in raw materials due to (1) mishandling after harvest, (2) lengthy transportation times to processing plants or (3) manual processing where shrimp are kept for several hours waiting under each stakeholder supply chain. These result in uncertainty of the shelf life and lower quality products. A score sheet is prepared based on well-defined characteristic changes (appearance, flavor, odor and texture) that occur in the deteriorative process of shrimp. Demerit points are assigned to attributes and the resulting scores prescribe overall acceptable quality. Considering food safety, organoleptic evaluation is one of the most often used simple methods for assessing freshness and quality in the fish and shrimp inspection services, and routinely applicable on all levels of marketing from harvesting to the processing plants.