QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF TRADITIONAL SMOKED ARCTIC CHAR, Salvelinus alpinus (Linnaeus, 1758).

Regular consumption of fish can contribute to a more balanced and healthy diet. Incorporating fish into one's diet is important for maintaining a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. The processes of traditional smoking undergo a complex series of steps that significantly influence its quality, nutritional composition, and sensory characteristics. To address this issue, a study was conducted to evaluate the meat quality and salt concentration of traditionally smoked Arctic char at different stages of the smoking process (fresh meat, salted meat, desalted meat, and smoked meat). All the physicochemical measured parameters varied significantly during the smoking processes, with the quality of the products remaining high. The final product, traditionally smoked trout, experiences a substantial decrease in water content through drying, salting, desalting, and smoking at high temperatures, increasing dry matter content. Furthermore, there is a significant boost in protein content in smoked trout compared to fresh, salted, and desalted meat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]