Combination of Freezing, Low Sodium Brine, and Cold Smoking on the Quality and Shelf-Life of Sea Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) Fillets as a Strategy to Innovate the Market of Aquaculture Products

Abstract

Aquaculture is playing a leading role in both meeting the growing demand for seafood and increasing the sustainability of the fish production sector. Thus, innovative technologies that improve its sustainability, competitiveness, and safety are necessary for growth in the sector. This study aimed to develop cold smoked sea bass fillets from aquaculture. The aptitude of frozen and fresh fillets for cold smoking was investigated by processing both fresh and thawed fillets kept previously at −20 °C for 15, 30, 60, and 90 days. Moreover, to develop a low-salt product, fillets were immersed in low-sodium or standard brine. Sensory, biochemical, and physical-chemical analyses were performed on both the raw fillets and the smoked fillets during vacuum packaged storage for 35 days at 1 ± 0.5 °C. Young modulus values, representative of texture and sensory evaluation, showed that the quality of fresh fillets was better compared to the thawed ones, thus affecting the quality of the final product as the correlation between parameters showed (principal component analysis). Cold smoking was effective in both maintaining the total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) below the threshold for spoilage and preventing lipid peroxidation. Moreover, partial sodium replacement by potassium did not alter the sensory attributes of smoked fillets, which maintained high scores up to 21 days.

Effect of Cold Smoking and Natural Antioxidants on Quality Traits, Safety and Shelf Life of Farmed Meagre (Argyrosomus regius) Fillets, as a Strategy to Diversify Aquaculture Products

“…Thawed A. regius fillets were processed as follows: four thawed fillets were used for the analyses of the untreated product, and the remaining 36 fillets underwent a smoking process consisting of four steps: salting, first drying, smoking and second drying [19,22], as shown in Figure 1.…”

“…Thawed A. regius fillets were processed as follows: four thawed fillets were used for the analyses of the untreated product, and the remaining 36 fillets underwent a smoking process consisting of four steps: salting, first drying, smoking and second drying [19,22], as shown in Figure 1. Thawed fillets were separated in 2 batches: in the first batch, 18 fillets were immersed in standard brine (S) consisting of a 15% NaCl solution (w/v); in the second batch, 18 fillets were treated with the same standard brine with 1% antioxidants (SA).…”

“…Thawed fillets were separated in 2 batches: in the first batch, 18 fillets were immersed in standard brine (S) consisting of a 15% NaCl solution (w/v); in the second batch, 18 fillets were treated with the same standard brine with 1% antioxidants (SA). For both treatments, a fillet:brine ratio of 1:4 was used [19,22].…”

“…Brine salting was performed for 90 min; then, the samples were dried for 30 min at a temperature of 30 • C. The fillets were cold-smoked using Moduline oven model FA082E (Scubla srl, Remanzacco (Ud), Italy) for 30 min at 30 • C, as described by Messina et al [19,22].…”

“…During the different phases of the process, the temperature is never higher than 30 or 33 • C [20,21]. To date, several fish species have been processed by this technique, such as farmed European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) [22,23]. Moreover, fishery species have been valorized by applying cold smoking in order to make available all year round seasonal species, as in the case of dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus), but also to enhance fishery species with excess catches, such as sardines (Sardina pilchardus) [19,24,25] and herring (Clupea harengus) [26].…”