Quality Assessment of Tiger Tooth Croaker (Otolithes ruber) During Ice Storage

Quality and shelf life of tiger tooth croaker (Otolithes ruber) during 19 days of iced storage were investigated in terms of sensory, chemical (total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N), thiobarbituric values (TBA), peroxide value (PV), free fatty acid (FFA), and pH) and microbiological (total viable count, TVC and total psychrotrophic count. TPC) aspects. Acceptability quality of Tiger tooth croaker determined by panelists was 15-17 days. Limiting factors for acceptability were eye, gills, peritoneum, smell of gills and abdominal cavity, internal organs and flesh. Bacterial loads in samples were higher than limiting level (3 x 106 CFU g-1) between 15-17 days of ice storage. Of the chemical indicators of spoilage, the initial value of pH was 6.71 and increased to 7.35 at the end of storage. TVB-N content was 15.31mg N/100g on day 0 and reached to 36.52 on day 19. The acceptability of tiger tooth croaker decreased as FFA, PV and TBA values increased (P 0.05). The release of FFA increased from an initial value of 4.15 (expressed as % of oleic acid) to a final value of 12.75 during the storage period. The initial PV value was 11.69 meq/kg and it increased to 50.75 meq/kg on day 12 and then started to decrease to 35.82 meq/kg at the end of storage period. The initial and final values of TBA were 0.83 and 3.75, respectively.