Chemical and Sensory Changes in Round Inshore Male Capelin (Mallotus villosus) During Prolonged Storage for 24 Months at −23 °C

Abstract

Male capelin (Mallotus villosus) from a spawning inshore stock were held whole in block frozen format −23 °C without the benefit of special protective treatments. The results indicated an exceptional storage life of the samples, with no development of oxidative rancidity as monitored by organoleptic analysis, although TBA data did indicate this possibility. For many variables, the major chemical and sensory changes appeared to occur as a result of freezing and thawing, rather than as a result of frozen storage; changes were fastest during the first 6 wk. Because of the high sensory scores, it was difficult to correlate most chemical tests and organoleptic changes, though the relationship of texture scores to EPN and FFA values was significant [Formula: see text]. Sensory analyses showed that, after 2 yr, the samples were still fully acceptable.

Chemical and Sensory Assessment of Nonspawning Capelin (Mallotus villosus) Subjected to Long Term Frozen Storage

“…3). The hypoxanthine concentrations observed in the present investigation were within the range of those observed with frozen and refrozen spawning capelin (Botta and Shaw, 1978;Shaw and Botta, 1977) where it also increased in concentration during storage at -23'C. Hypoxanthine has also been observed to increase in concentration during frozen storage of other species (Connell and Howgate, 1969).…”

“…3). This is similar to that observed with spawning capelin frozen immediately after catching (Shaw and Botta, 1977). The hypoxanthine content of samples receiving either preprocessing treatment varied so greatly among the different storage times that few meaningful trends were observed (Fig.…”

“…However, rancidity was not detected by the sensory evaluation panel. Similar disagreements have been observed with frozen spawning capelin (Shaw and Botta, 1977). The hypoxanthine concentration of nonspawning capelin receiving no preprocessing treatment generally increased with frozen storage time (Fig.…”

“…In addition, with both variables, there were no consistent trends of these changes (Table 4). In general, the DMA and TMA values of the present study were within the range of those observed for frozen Newfoundland spawning capelin (Botta and Shaw, 1978;Shaw and Botta, 1977). Inspection of the moisture interaction means revealed that the moisture content of the capelin processed without any prior treatment was relatively constant throughout frozen storage and somewhat lower than that of capelin stored in ice or frozen then thawed prior to processing ( Table 5).…”

“…Although nonspawning capelin is a much fattier fish than spawning capelin the present results indicate that the keeping quality of frozen nonspawning capelin is at least as good as that of spawning capelin (Shaw and Botta, 1977), and that the keeping quality of refrozen nonspawning capelin is moderately better than that of spawning capelin (Botta and Shaw, 1978).…”