Quality Characteristics of Freeze-Dried Salmon Baby Food Purees During Storage

Abstract

Five combinations of baby food (puree; puree + pink salmon roe; puree + bone; puree + salmon oil; puree + oil + bone) were formulated from retort-processed sockeye (red) salmon puree base, freeze-dried; then evaluated for color, odor, ability to rehydrate, and storage stability. Baby food was retort-processed, freeze-dried, vacuum-packaged, then stored at 22°C for 4 months. Rehydration was best for the puree only (71.7%), about 53% for puree + roe and puree + oil, and about 48.5% for that containing puree + oil + bone. Adding roe to freeze-dried salmon baby food puree increased fishy, rancid, metallic, and sweaty odor; and lightened and decreased redness, yellowness, and visual color intensity. Adding salmon oil increased salmon odor slightly, yellowness, and visual color intensity and decreased color saturation during storage. Adding salmon bone decreased salmon odor and true red color and increased rancid and buttery odor intensities, yellowness, and visual color intensity. Increasing hue angle indicates that the product is becoming less red. Adding salmon oil and bone together increased salmon, fishy, rancid, and sweaty odor intensities and reduced true red color and visual color intensity. Retort-processed, freeze-dried salmon baby food puree with no added roe, oil, and/or bone had and retained the most intense red color throughout the storage period. These data suggest that salmon puree alone consistently produced the highest quality retort-processed, freeze-dried product.