Shelf life of vacuum ‐ packed smoked herring fillets
The aim of the study was to examine the shelf life of smoked herring fillets in vacuum-packed packaging and to examine its effect on the shelf life of the product if preservatives are not used and if sorbate is used instead of benzoate, which is used in conventional production. This study showed that the use of preservatives has a significant effect on the shelf life of smoked herring fillets. It was also stated that the sorbate treatment of herring fillets provided the best preservation against microbial growth and also the sorbate treatment of herring fillets proved to be the best in informal sensory evaluation. Whether this is due to the sorbate's inhibition of microbial growth or whether it reduces the rate of chemical and physical degradation factors compared to herring fillets with benzoate or without preservatives needs further research.
The object of this project was to evaluate the shelf life of vacuum packed smoked herring fillets and to evaluate whether the use of the preservatives benzoate or sorbate had any effect on the shelf life of the product Results showed that treatment of the smoked herring fillets with preservatives greatly affected the shelf life and that sorbate treatment of the herring fillets provided the best defense for bacteria growth and also gave best results in an informal sensory testing during the shelf life study. Whether this is due to inhibitory role of sorbate on bacteria growth or that sorbate slows down chemical and physical degradation in comparison to herring fillets with benzoate or without any preservatives needs further investigation.