Quality Characteristics of Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) Treated with Different Additives During Iced Storage

Abstract

Cuttlefish is considered as one of the most important seafood items, which is rich in essential nutrients. Different additives and salt are widely used during chilling to improve the texture and quality of cuttlefish. In the present study, cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) was treated with a commercially used additive (CA) and its quality was compared with trisodium phosphate (TSP) (2.5 % & 5 %) treated samples. Fresh cuttlefish before treatment had 83.02 % moisture, 13.89 % protein, 1.2 % fat and 2.3 % ash. TVB-N value showed an increasing trend in all the samples during storage with the highest increase in control (1.4-9.2 mg 100 g^-1). The L* values showed a decreasing trend in control and TSP-treated samples. The a* values of control and CA samples didn’t follow any trend during iced storage. Moreover, a* value showed a decreasing trend in the TSP sample up to the 7^th day and thereafter didn’t follow any trend. The b* value was found to increase in TSP-treated samples. However, the CA and control samples did not follow any trend for b* values during iced storage. Texture analysis revealed that the hardness value showed a decreasing trend in cuttlefish during iced storage. The aerobic plate count (APC) in the 5 % TSP sample reached 6.98 log cfu g^-1 on the 14^th day. However, the APC of the control crossed acceptability limit and reached a value of 7.2 log cfu g^-1 on the 12^th day. A similar trend was also observed for the psychrophilic count during storage. Moreover, a significant reduction in H₂S forming bacteria was observed in TSP-treated sample. Based on the aerobic plate count and psychrophilic count, the cuttlefish treated with CA and TSP 2.5 % had a shelf life of up to 14 days. Control samples had a shelf life of only 12 days and TSP 5 % treatment extended the shelf life of cuttlefish to more than 14 days. The present study revealed that 5 % TSP supresses microbial activity and extends the shelf life of cuttlefish under ice storage.