Role of Natural Additives on Quality and Shelf Life Extension of Fish and Fishery Products

Abstract

Fish and fishery products have drawn greater attention due to their high nutritional value owing to the presence of cheap superior quality proteins, essential fatty acids, and macro and micronutrients. But higher water content, non- protein nitrogen, and post mortem pH (6–7) in fish favor rapid spoilage by autolysis or putrefaction, and can result in health risk as well as economic loss. Moreover, the quality of fish is affected by species, harvesting season, handling and method of processing. Thus, application of food additives become necessary to maintain the shelf life, nutritional content, texture and flavor of the raw material as well as processed products. Considerable research is being done on applications of natural additives after the emergence of the concept ‘Green consumerism’ which resulted in decreased consumer preference for using synthetic food additives. In this background, this chapter will review the natural additives used for quality maintenance and shelf life extension of fish and fishery products.