Quality evaluation of vacuum‐pack ready‐to‐eat hot smoked pangasius fillets during refrigerated storage

In this study, Pangasius was evaluated as a candidate species for hot smoked ready-to-eat product, and its quality and shelf life were assessed during refrigerated storage under vacuum packing. Initially, smoking conditions were optimized based on analysis of water-phase salt and sensory scores. The optimized conditions were dipping fillets in 20% brine solution for 60 min, pre-drying at 50°C for 30 min, and smoking at 80°C for 3 h. The optimized vacuum-packed smoked and nonsmoked fillets were analyzed for proximate, biochemical and instrumental, amino acid, and fatty acid degradation, microbiological, and sensory parameters at refrigerated temperature (4 ± 1°C). Benzopyrene content was analyzed for optimized salted smoked fish in comparison with salted nonsmoked fish. The major changes observed in total volatile base nitrogen, total viable count, and sensory scores on the 49th and 63rd day of storage were 41.86 and 35.89 mg N/100 g, 7.21 and 6.54 log CFU/g, and 4.83 and 5.88 for nonsmoked and smoked Pangasius, respectively. During storage, the saturated fatty acids in both smoked and nonsmoked samples increased and unsaturated fatty acids values decreased, which might be due to lipid oxidation. Sensorily, salted nonsmoked (control) and salted-smoked fillets were acceptable for 35 and 63 days. Novelty impact statement Though Pangasius has good demand in the international market, Pangasius cultured in India is having low demand and the production cost is more than the selling price. Hot smoking can be an alternative method of preservation to increase the utilization of Pangasius and create demand in the international market. Smoked fishery products are a delicacy in many countries, especially hot smoked products prepared from salmon, trout, whitefish are being exported to many countries. Pangasius being a major export item from Asian countries can be used as an alternate species for hot smoked products.