Keeping Quality of Desalted Cod Fillets in Consumer Packs

To meet modern consumer demands, it is important to be able to offer “ready-to-use” desalted cod in consumer packs with sufficient keeping quality at chill temperatures. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of potassium sorbate, citric acid, and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) in varying combinations on the keeping quality of desalted cod fillets in consumer packs. After desalting, cod fillets were packed in trays and stored at 1.0 ± 0.2 °C for up to 33 d. The fillets were packed in open bags, in modified atmosphere (MA) (CO2/N2/O2:75/ 20/5) only, or in MS following a potassium sorbate and/or a citric acid treatment. The rate of microbial growth was by far fastest in fillets in open bags. MAP alone decreased the growth rate considerably and still further decrease was obtained in MAP fillets treated with citric acid and/or sorbate solutions. The concurrent effect of these treatments was distinct. Quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) was used to assess cooked samples. During the 1st d of storage, the samples were described by sweet and butter odor, salt taste, clammy and rubberlike texture, which became less evident with increasing storage time, but differed by groups and the least in samples treated with sorbate and citric acid/sorbate solutions. Sensory spoilage attributes and total volatile bases (TVB-N)/trimethylamine (TMA) measurements correlated well with microbial counts. Use of MAP increased the shelf life from 6 to 10 d to 18 to 24 d, MAP and citric acid to 24 to 28 d, while the addition of sorbate to MAP fillets extended the shelf life to at least 33 d.