Methods of air-cured and dried fish storage technique improvement

The article gives the review of production and consumption of air-cured and dried fish in Russia. While storaging there may be prominent mass losses because of shrinking caused by different factors. To reduce air-cured and dried fish shrinking there may be used different methods of creating and supporting the temperature and humidity conditions, different kinds of packaging, solutions for fish surface treatment. Refrigerated counters, used for fish storage and sales, have some drawbacks. The major drawbacks of the traditional methods of fish storage are changes of relative humidity in a holding room, of fish humidity, and of temperature, which leads to shortening of storage time and to fish shrinking. The use of different adsorbents allows to reach the necessary air humidity in refrigerated counters, and a fat substitute allows to reduce food shrinking. The investigation shows that the use of monoglyceride helps to increase fish storage period, but at the same time the taste of sea- or river-fish changes. Carbon dioxide considerably slows different microorganisms development, and consequently, increases a storage period. The use of carbon dioxide does not substantially influence the taste of fish. Though carbon dioxide increases the humidity in a holding room, its chemical properties sustain considerable lessening of oxygen concentration in a holding room, thus slowing the process of outer and inner changes in fish tissues, which results in a longer storage period. In the course of investigation the advantages and disadvantages of each method have been developed and their efficiency has been estimated.