Sous-vide: An Emerging Technology for Fish Preservation

Abstract

Sous-vide products are gaining importance nowadays as it employs steam cooking thereby preserving the nutritional status of the food products. This process engages an immediate chill treatment followed by heat treatment and its subsequent storage at low temperature arresting the microbial growth. Over time, frequent advancements had taken place to make this technique more effective for long-term preservation; integrating various factors in the form of low pH, inclusion of spices, seasonings improving the texture, flavour of the product and at the same time preserve it for long duration in hermetically sealed plastic packages; preventing from the attack of aerobic microbes. Many varieties of food can be preserved by this technique. Fish being a rich source of delicate nutrients can be efficiently preserved by this technique maintaining its characters like the fresh fish. Many sous-vide fish products are already ruling the market like fish fillets, fish steaks and fish chunks which can be effectively preserved for long term by this technology.