High temperature processing of fish sausage 2. - Effect of certain preservatives on the shelf life

The effects of preservatives like fat coated sorbic acid (FCSA) and glucono-deltalactone (D-lactone), both separately and in combination, on the shelf life of high temperature (115.6°C for 20 min) processed fish sausage, stored at three different temperatures namely, ambient (28±2° C), cooler storage (2±2°C) and refrigerator (10±2° C) were studied. Whereas the control (without preservative), FCSA, D-lactone and FCSA + D-lactone treated samples could be stored for 9, 11 and 13 days respectively at ambient temperature, those stored at lower temperatures were found to be in acceptable condition for 70 and 80 days respectively. Organoleptic evaluation of taste, flavour the products carried out by panelists revealed that FCSA and FCSA + D-lactone treated samples were unacceptable with regard to the taste, flavour and texture. However, the taste flavour and texture of the control and D-lactone treated samples were in acceptable condition.

Development and evaluation of an alternative method for processing elastic-lidar return signals

A method for interpreting elastic-lidar return signals in heavily-polluted atmospheres is presented. It is based on an equation derived directly from the classic lidar equation, which highlights gradients of the atmospheric backscattering properties along the laser optical path. The method is evaluated by comparing its results with those obtained with the differential absorption technique. The results were obtained from locating and ranging measurements in pollutant plumes and contaminated environments around central México. © World Scientific Publishing Company.

High temperature processing of fish sausage 3. - Studies on some of the storage characteristics

The proximate composition of the high temperature processed fish sausage was found to be 14.56% protein, 4.65% fat, 69.14% moisture, 2.12% ash and 8.12% carbohydrate. The quality of the product during storage was assessed on the basis of the changes observed in the physical, chemical and microbiological parameters. The results of the different tests such as pH, volatile base nitrogen (VBN), trimethyl amine nitrogen (TMA-N) and jelly strength are summarized and discussed. The total bacterial load increased gradually during storage but was not proportional to the initial load.

Formulation, processing and water stability of pelleted feeds with varying levels of protein used in carp nutrition studies

Four dry pelleted feeds containing 20%, 30%, 40% and 45% protein were formulated incorporating casein as the main source of protein for use in carp nutrition studies. The caloric content in all the feeds was maintained constant. The method of processing is described. The formulated diets were tested for water stability. This test has revealed that the diet containing 20%, 30% and 40% protein had better stability than that containing 45% protein. This was due to the relatively higher fat content in the former three diets. However, all the feeds were sufficiently stable at the end of one hour in which time carps are known to utilise supplementary diets.

High temperature processing of fish sausage 4. - Heat penetration study

An examination was made of the rate of penetration of heat into fish sausage during processing at 115.6°C. Findings showed processing for 24 minutes to bring about complete destruction of Clostridium botulinum. A processing time of 30 minutes destroys almost all spoilage-causing organisms, thus prolonging the shelf life of the products.

Effect of pre-processing iced storage on deteriorative changes in lipids of silver pomfrets stored at -18°C

Silver pomfret (Pampus argenteus) was frozen in the fresh condition as well as after holding in ice for one, two and four days. Evaluation of changes in the quality of these samples during storage at -18°C has shown that shelf-life decreased sharply if the pre-freezing iced storage was more than one day. The shelf-life of one day iced, two day iced and four day iced frozen samples were 32, 20 and 16 weeks respectively. No correlation was observed between the peroxide value and the organoleptic detection of rancid flavour. Levels of free fatty acids were more in the samples frozen after storage in ice for one day than in all the other samples.

Antibiotic resistance of Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from fish processing factory workers

One hundred and twenty two strains of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from throats and palms of 39 workers from 6 fish processing factories situated in and around Cochin were tested for their sensitivity to nine commonly used antibiotics-ampicillin, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, kanamycin, neomycin, penicillin, polymyxin-B, streptomycin and tetracycline. Highest percentage of resistance was observed towards ampicillin followed by penicillin i.e. 64.75% and 59.84%. Resistance towards other antibiotics like tetracycline, polymyxin-B, erythromycin, kanamycin, neomycin, chloramphenicol and streptomycin were shown by 22.95, 16.39, 7.38, 5.74, 3.28 and 1.64% of the isolates respectively.

Effect of demonstration in transferring fish processing technology

A group of 28 fisherwomen who attended demonstration on three subjects, namely, preparation of fish wafers, fish pickles and fish soup powder showed significant knowledge and skill gain for all the three messages. The total knowledge and skill gain was maximum for preparation of fish wafers followed by that for preparation of fish soup powder and fish pickles.

Adoption of recommended quality control practices by fish processing factories

Responses to mailed questionnaires from 31 fish processing factories revealed that for 55 recommended practices in quality control, the percentage of adopters varied from 21.43 to 100.The adoption index was not correlated to any of five variables studied. The mean adoption index did not differ significantly between five other criteria related to fish processing. Rate of rejection or reprocessing at the factory itself was highly correlated with the amount of water used per tonne of processed material.

On the pattern of Salmonella serotypes in fishery products, froglegs and processing environments

Thirty four different serotypes of Salmonella have been isolated from aquatic products. The number of serotypes from frozen froglegs were 22. Only four serotypes were isolated from frozen shrimps. S. weltevreden predominates in frozen shrimps and fish. S. roan and S. larochelle were isolated for the first time in India. Isolation of six rare serotypes of Salmonella has also been reported.

A scale to measure the attitude towards improved fish processing methods

An attitude scale was constructed to measure the attitude of fisherwomen towards improved fish processing methods. To construct the attitude scale, 'scale' and ‘Q’ values (the interquartile ranges) were calculated for 31 statements selected, based on the opinion of 34 judges. Based on the 'scale' and ‘Q’ values 16 statements were selected with eight favorable statements and eight unfavorable statements. The weightages given were 3, 2 and 1 for favorable statements and 1, 2 and 3 for unfavorable statements.

Relative retentivity of knowledge in fish processing by fisherwomen

Retention of knowledge in the preparation of fish pickle, fish wafers and fish soup powder for an experimental group of 20 fisherwomen selected from three fishing villages was studied. The knowledge retention immediately after exposure and also at intervals of 15 days and 30 days after exposure differed significantly.

Dissociation of egocentric and allocentric spatial processing in prefrontal cortex

Monkeys with lesions of areas 9 and 46 performed three variants of the spatial delayed response (SDR) task. There were no impairments in allocentric spatial memory in which geometrical relationships between environmental cues were used to identify spatial location; thus, memory of a 3D environmental map is intact. In contrast, there were severe impairments in egocentric spatial memory guided by visual or tactile cues that monkeys can relate to their viewing perspective during testing. These results strongly suggest that dorsolateral prefrontal cortex selectively mediates spatial memory tasks that are solved by referencing the location of targets to the body's orientation. (C) 2003 Lippincott Williams Wilkins.

Product development: market depends on good processing

The article presents the harvesting techniques, and handling and processing of cultured carps. Carps are harvested similarly with all other species in tropical countries while temperate countries, winter season is much considered. Water quality is an important factor to be considered because it can affect the hygienic and organoleptic quality of fish. Carps were commonly sold live, filleted, cut into sticks, frozen, used as breaded sticks, canned, bottled, and smoked.