Quality assessment of the canned fish made of capelin of the prolonged storage period produced by the soft conditions of fish smoking

The study focuses on the manufacturing techniques of canned food «Smoked Capelin in oil» from the little-used fish raw materials of the Arctic region – Barents Sea capelin (Mallotus villosus) of the prolonged storage period. The special feature of the offered technology is the application of the soft conditions of the preliminary heat treatment (PHT) of fish – smoking at the lowered temperatures. This technology prevents the risk of nitrosamines formation and entering of such cancerogenic substances as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons into the final product. The study also provides data on the influence of raw materials properties and temperature parameters on the duration of dehydration process while preparation of a smoked semi-finished product from a capelin. The results of organoleptic assessment made it possible to find the optimal PHT temperature and time parameters of smoked capelin semi-finished products and ready canned food. It was established that the usage of the soft PHT cold smoking modes increases the amount of a semi-finished product due to the decrease in losses of moisture. The aim of this research was to study the possibility of canned food production from frozen raw materials of the prolonged period of storage. The results are based on the analysis of how the quality of both frozen fish and the produced canned food changed over the time (on microbiological, chemical and organoleptic indicators). The industrial sterility of canned food was confirmed by microbiological researches, thus there is some evidence, that the developed mode of sterilization of canned food «Smoked Capelin in oil» can be regarded as effective. The study indicates the parameters of the chemical, amino-acid and fatty-acid composition of the canned food made on the developed technology, and assesses its safety and biological value. Research conducted on the qualitative characteristics of a new product in the process of storage made it possible to develop and approve specifications and the technological instruction for production of canned food «Smoked Capelin in oil». It was confirmed that the storage period of canned food «Smoked Capelin in oil» produced of frozen capelin does not exceed six months at a temperature not above minus of eighteen degrees Celsius.