JOSEPH SARWUAN TARKA UNIVERSITY, MAKURDI, BENUE STATE
COLLEGE OF FOOD TECHNOLOGY AND HUMAN ECOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
FST 504: PROCESSING OF MISCELLANEOUS FOODS
ASSIGNMENT ON;
“DISCUSS THE DIFFERENT WAYS OF PROCESSING FISH.”
BY
OCHIMANA HAUWA
19/49978/UE
OCTOBER, 2024.
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ANSWER
WAYS OF PROCESSING FISH
Fish products have attracted attention as a source of high amounts of important nutritional
components like high-quality protein, essential vitamins, minerals and healthful
polyunsaturated fatty acids to the human diet. As fish is highly nutritious, it is also highly
susceptible to spoilage, due to intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Proper processing and
packaging help in maintaining the eating quality of fish for extended period. Worldwide, an
array of processing and packaging methods or ways are followed, and they include the
following;
1. Salting
2. Smoking
3. Drying
4. Canning
5. Freezing
6. Irradiation
7. Fermentation
8. Retort pouch processing
9. Microwave processing
10. Application of enzymes
1. SALTING
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The main way in which salt is used in traditional fish processing is in conjunction with
drying. By salting food, storage life is prolonged. Salt absorbs much of the water in the food
and makes it difficult for microorganisms to survive. For salting, it is important that the fish
has been prepared in such a way that the salt added can quickly draw into the flesh and the
moisture can leave the fish. Large pieces of flesh must be cut into thin slices to allow this.
Fish are divided in half or even in quarters depending on their sizes. The quality of the
starting material to be used must be good. Old, rotten fish or fish of poor quality is not
improved by salting it and is certainly not storable for long. Salt intended for salting fish
should be as clean as possible. The salt must not contain any dust, sand, etc.
Salting methods
Three (3) basic methods are employed:
i. Dry salting (Kench salting); Coarse salt is more suitable for dry (Kench) salting.
Fine salt will draw water too quickly from the outside of the fish, making the outside
hard. As a result, the water inside the fish cannot escape and the salt cannot penetrate
deep into the fish. Therefore, the fish spoils despite being salted. This is known as
“salt burn”. Coarse salt does not have this effect. Kench salting is very suitable for
mainly lean kinds of fish.
ii. Wet salting (Pickle salting); Wet salting is a good way to preserve or process fatty
fish such as herring, sardines, anchovies and mackerel. With this method the fish is
better protected against vermin and a more uniform salt distribution is achieved.
iii. Brining; With this method, fish is salted in a solution of water and salt (brine).
Brining is not used as such as a preservation method but as preparation for smoking or
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drying. The use of a light salt solution ensures a decrease in bacterial growth on the
surface of the fish during the smoking or drying process.
2. SMOKING
Smoking is one of the most widely used traditional fish processing methods employed in
many countries to preserve fish. The preservation effect of the smoke is a result of drying of
the product during the smoking as well as due to smoke particle absorption into the flesh. The
smoke particles, mainly phenolic compounds, carbonyl and organic acids, being absorbed by
the product, inhibit bacterial growth on the surface of the product. The smoke particles also
have a positive effect on the taste and colour of the product and in many instances, smoking
is normally practiced to improve these sensory characteristics.
Methods of smoking
There are 3 ways of smoking:
Cold smoke method: The temperature during the smoking is at most 30°C which means
the product does not get cooked.
Hot smoke method: During this process, the product does get cooked but not dried
(temperature varies between 65±100°C).
Smoke drying: During this process, the product is first hot smoked, so that it gets cooked
and then, with continued smoking the product is dried (temperature vary between 45-
85°C).
3. DRYING
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The term “drying” usually implies removal of water by evaporation, but water can be
removed by other methods, for example by applying pressure, using absorbent pads and
adding salt. During evaporation drying water is removed in two distinct phases. Firstly, water
on or close to the surface of the fish evaporates, the drying rate depends on the surface area of
the fish, the air temperature, the speed of air movement over the fish and the relative
humidity of the air. If air conditions remain the same the drying rate will remain constant.
This phase is known as the “constant rate period”. Once the surface water has evaporated,
water can only evaporate as fast as it can reach the surface of the fish from within.
4. CANNING
The canning process involves placing food in cans or jars and heating them to a temperature
that destroys micro-organisms that could be a health hazard or cause the food to spoil.
Canning also inactivates enzymes that could cause the food to spoil. As the cans or jars are
sealed hermetically, recontamination from outside is prevented. In general, canned products
can be stored for a long time without refrigeration. Chemical quality loss (in taste, colour and
amount of certain essential nutrients) will slowly continue.
5. FREEZING
Freezing is an age-old practice to retain the quality and freshness of fishery products for a
long time. This involves the conversion of water present in fishery products to ice i.e., a
phase change from liquid to solid phase takes place in freezing. This retards the microbial and
enzymatic action by reducing the water available for their action. This involves exposing fish
products to very low temperature (<- 350C) to enable freezing of free water and maintained
at -180C till it is consumed. Plate freezing, air blast freezing, cryogenic freezing and
individual quick freezing are the methods adopted by the industry to preserve food products.
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6. IRRADIATION
Irradiation is a physical treatment that consists of exposing foods to the direct action of
electronic, electromagnetic rays to assure the innocuity of foods and to prolong the shelf life.
Irradiation of food can control insect infestation, reduce the numbers of pathogenic or
spoilage
microorganisms, and delay or eliminate natural biological processes such as ripening,
germination, or sprouting in fresh food. Like all preservation methods, irradiation should
supplement rather than replace good food hygiene, handling, and preparation practices.
Three types of ionizing radiation are used in commercial radiation to process products such as
foods and medical and pharmaceutical devices (International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA), radiation from high-energy gamma rays, X-rays, and accelerated electrons.
7. FERMENTATION
Most traditional method of preservation depends primarily on the removal of water from the
fish by the action of sun and wing, often in conjunction with a salting or smoking process. In
hot and humid (and wet) climates, however, spoilage is not always arrested by dehydration
methods. Moreover, it was found that if these changes were controlled, desirable flavours
could be conferred to the product. These increased the acceptability of the fish and mark
others less pleasant flavours and odours. The process is known as fermentation which is in
general termed the breakdown of organic substance into simpler compounds by the action of
enzymes or microorganisms. The nature of the final product depends largely on the extent of
fermentation. During fermentation, salt inhibits the action of the natural bacteria of the fish
and allows the fish enzymes to act (i.e. autolysis). Although fermentation is mainly autolytic,
anaerobic bacteria have been shown to be responsible for the characteristic flavours and
odours of some fermented fish products.
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In South East Asia, fermented fish products are extremely popular. Three (3) types ofproduct
are made i.e. fermented fish, fish pastes and fish sauces.
8. RETORT POUCH PROCESSING
As in canning, retort pouch food is sterilized after packing, but the sterilizing procedure
differs. The pouches are processed in an over pressure retort. The time and temperature will
be standardized depending on the product. With the availability of retort pouches, it can
function as an excellent import substitute for metallic cans. Besides, cost reduction retort
pouch packages have unique advantages like boil in bag facility, ease of opening, reduced
weight and do not require refrigeration for storage. Processed food products can be kept for
long periods at ambient temperature. The energy saving is more in processing in flexible
pouches compared to cans. On a comparison of total costs, including energy, warehousing
and shipping, the pouch looks even more favourable. There is 30 to 40% reduction in
processing time compared to cans, solids fill is greater per unit, empty warehousing is 85%
smaller and weight of the empty package is substantially smaller.
9. MICROWAVE PROCESSING
The applications of microwave heating on fish processing include drying, pasteurization,
sterilization, thawing, tempering, baking etc. Microwaves are electromagnetic waves whose
frequency varies within 300 MHz to 300 GHz. Microwave heating is caused by the ability of
the materials to absorb microwave energy and convert it into heat. Microwave heating of
food materials mainly occurs due to dipolar and ionic mechanisms. Water content in the food
material causes dielectric heating due to the dipolar nature of water. When an oscillating
electric field is incident on the water molecules, the permanently polarized dipolar molecules
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try to realign in the direction of the electric field. At high frequency electric field, this
realignment occurs at a million times per second and causes internal friction of molecules
resulting in the volumetric heating of the material million times per second and causes
internal friction of molecules resulting in the volumetric heating of the material.
10. APPLICATION OF ENZYMES
Enzymes have been used for the production of various cured and fermented fish products
from centuries. Because of their appreciable activity at moderate temperature, products and
process have emerged that utilizes enzymes in a deliberate and controlled fashion in the field
of food processing. Cold active enzymes including elastase, collagenase, chymotrypsin
extracted from Atlantic cod were used in various food processing applications. The other
applications of cold active enzymes include caviar production, extraction of carotenoprotein
etc.