Quality assessment of fishes caught by single-day and multi-day gillnet fishing off Satpati Coast, Maharashtra, India

Abstract

The present investigation was aimed at elucidating the importance of freshness and quality for the consumer and its relationship to sensory and non-sensory properties of fish caught by single-day and multi-day gillnet fishing off Satpati
Coast, Palghar District, Maharashtra, India. Selected species of marine fishes viz., Pampus argenteus, Ilisha filigera, Osteogeneiosus militaris, Thryssa mystax and Sardinella gibbosa from single-day and multi-day gillnet fishing trips were collected and assessed based on freshness score, microbiological and biochemical parameters. The average values of sensory score, total plate count (TPC) and pH for fish samples from single-day fishing were 25 to 26; 1.9×104 cfu g-1 to 7.3×104 cfu g-1 and 6.8 respectively, whereas for multi-day fishing, it was 12 to 17; 7.1×104 cfu g-1 to 1.8×105 cfu g-1 and 7.07 respectively. Significant difference (p<0.05) was observed for the values of pH, trimethyl amine (TMA), total volatile base-nitrogen (TVB-N) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) between the fish samples from single-day and multi-day fishing for two species viz. T. mystax and I. filigera. The study indicated that fishes caught from both single-day and multi-day units were acceptable for human consumption. Results of the study provides insight into the quality aspects of fish landed by commercial fishing crafts by comparing single-day and multi-day fishing.

Keywords: Biochemical evaluation, Fish quality, Freshness, Microbial load, Sensory evaluation