Abstract
Fish products have high nutritional value but are very perishable. Fish gelatine coatings are a renewable technology that offers numerous benefits for preserving highly perishable fishery products with high nutritional value. A recent study evaluated the shelf life of Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) coated with gelatine extracted from Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) scales and glycerol. The coated shrimp were stored frozen at -18°C for 180 days. The researchers applied the gelatine coating at a concentration of 1.5%, with 0.2% glycerol, to peeled and headless shrimp (“treatment G”) and compared them with uncoated shrimp (control – “treatment C”). They evaluated bacterial growth, pH, formation of volatile bases (TVB-N and TMA-N), and lipid oxidation (TBARS) every 30 days (day T0, T30, T60, T90, 120, 150 and 180). The study found that the gelatine extraction yield obtained was 24.64%. The total bacterial count (TBC) range for treatment C was 0.00 to 2.32 log CFU/g, while for treatment G it was only 0.00 to 1.48 log CFU/g. The shelf-life assessment showed that the gelatine and glycerol-based coating solution was effective in preserving P. vannamei in terms of microbiological parameters, pH, TVB-N, TMA-N and TBARS. The study concluded that the use of this coating combined with frozen storage could be a good alternative for maintaining the quality of Pacific white shrimp for an extended period.