Effect of brining and spice treatment on the quality of hot-smoked catfish (Clarias gariepinus)

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to determine the preservative activity of brine and the effect of pepper and garlic spice mixture at 0%, 1.5%, 2.5%, 3.5% and 4.5% levels (per gram of fish) in retarding lipid oxidation and on the organoleptic quality of hot-smoked Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) in Kainji area.  The fish samples were frozen, cut, eviscerated, cleaned and dipped in 14.5% brine for 10 minutes, (the control samples were not brined).  They were treated with the spices, smoked at 80-86°C for 6 hours, cooled, stored at room temperature (25°C – 31°C) for 21 days and used for physical, chemical, microbial and sensory evaluation studies.  Untreated samples served as control.  From the results of analysis, samples treated with brine and a mixture of pepper and garlic paste (1:1 ratio) were microbially more stable that the control samples as these had longer shelf-life and were not visibly covered by moulds during a 21-day storage period.  The preservative activity of brine and the anti-oxidant activity of pepper and garlic mixture were also evident from lower TBA and peroxide values of treated samples relative to untreated samples.  Results of sensory evaluation showed a general preference for treated samples.