Assessment and Comparison of Quality of Solar Tunnel Dried Bombay Duck and Silver Pomfret with Traditional Sun Dried Samples

Traditional sun drying methods are widely used in Bangladesh to dry fish, though the quality is not satisfactory. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of solar tunnel dried Bombay duck and Siler pomfret, and to compare it with traditional sun dried Bombay duck and Silver pomfret. Raw fish samples of Bombay duck and Silver pomfret was collected and dried using solar tunnel dryer. The quality of the dried product was analyzed measuring moisture, protein, fat, ash, peroxide value and Total Volatile Base Nitrogen (TVB-N) content and analyzing water reconstitution properties. Traditional sun dried Bombay duck and Silver pomfret were also collected from different area, and the same measurement was also performed and compared with solar tunnel dried fish samples. Microbial quality was also analyzed using standard methods. Organoleptic quality of solar tunnel dried fish samples was found very well without any objectionable flavor and odor, compared with traditional sun dried fish samples. Moisture content was also observed (15.25 % in Bombay duck and 13.43 % in Silver pomfret) within the acceptable range. Protein content of solar dried fish samples was also found higher than that of traditional sun dried samples and water reconstitution power was also found better. Peroxide and TVB-N value of the solar tunnel dried studied samples were found within the normal limit of 10-20meq/kg of oil and up to 30 mg/100gm, respectively. Aerobic Plate Count was found lower, however Salmonella and Coliform was not found in both dried samples. The quality of solar tunnel dried Bombay duck and Silver pomfret samples were of excellent compared with samples dried by traditional sun drying method.