Effect of Fish Attributes and Handling Stress on Quality of Smoked Arctic Char Fillets

• Published in: Journal of Food Science
• Main Authors: Jittinandana, S., Kenney, P.B., Slider, S.D., Mazik, P., Bebak‐Williams, J., Hankins, J.A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2003
• Subjects: Arctic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2621.2003.tb14114.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1365-2621.2003.tb14114.x; http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2621.2003.tb14114.x/fullpdf

ABSTRACT: Arctic char hatched at 6.5 and 9.5 °C and later divided into large, medium, and small size groups were assigned to processing (1) without handling stress, (2) immediately after handling stress, (3) at 24 h after handling stress, and (4) at 48 h after handling stress. Stress reduced gut weight and muscle a* value, increased muscle L* for the 9.5 °C group, decreased muscle L* for the 6.5 °C group, and increased fillet weight loss after brining. Fillets from the stressed, 9.5 °C group absorbed more brine, increasing salt and ash content of smoked products. A 24‐h stress recovery decreased total‐ and water‐phase salt. Fish hatched at 9.5 °C appeared to be more sensitive to handling stress than fish hatched at 6.5 °C. A 48‐h stress recovery increased gut weight and enhanced muscle L*.