The effect of mortality on fish quality ll
The purpose of the study was, on the one hand, to investigate the effect of supercooling on the death-hardening process of cod and salmon fillets and to compare with conventional cooling; and, on the other hand, to examine whether filleting at different times in the death solidification process (before mortality, in mortality and after the process ends) had a product quality. For salmon, a preliminary experiment was performed on which the main experiment was based, while in cod an experiment was performed on wild cod and farmed fish.
Supercooling of cod is based on cooling down to -0.8 ° C and salmon at -1.2 ° C, while conventional cooling is based on 0 ° C for both species. Differences between groups were examined and also differences within groups were compared. Small differences within groups indicate a more accurate and credible conclusion.
The results of a survey carried out by a sensory evaluation team show that the effect of supercooling is considerable as there is less contraction in the death solidification process, and the effect on quality is therefore smaller. There is a difference between wild cod and farmed cod, as it is known that the water content between cells is less in farmed development than wild. It might be interesting to look at the difference between farmed salmon and wild salmon, but that was outside the scope of this study.
It can be concluded that with supercooling it would be possible to process salmon for freezing to death without degrading quality, which could be important in the marketing of fresh products in the future, as the salmon could be processed immediately at slaughter and thus increase shelf life in foreign markets.
One of the aims of the project was to prepare promotional material on the death solidification process and its impact on the quality of products for salmon and cod producers in Iceland, which could benefit them in the future in tackling new challenges in the production of high-quality products.