Feasibility of fish and shellfish curries stored in indigenous polymer coated tin free steel cans

Abstract

The study indicated that the suitability of indigenous polymer coated TFS cans for processing at high temperature and pressure. The cook value was found to exhibit an inverse relationship with processing temperature (p<0.05) and was maximum at 115°C and minimum at 130°C. The fish products were acceptable even after 24 months of storage at ambient temperature. The initial overall acceptability score of about 8.75 and it was gradually reduced to around 6.78. It can be seen that the initial pH of fish, shrimp, crab and mussel curries are 5.9, 5.7, 5.6 and 6.0 respectively indicating that it is towards the acidic side. The acidic nature of the product can be attributed to the acidity contributed by the curry ingredients like tomato. During storage, the pH of the products was found to exhibit a decreasing trend. On the 6th, month of storage, the pH of fish, shrimp, crab and mussel curries are 5.7,5.6, 5.6 and 5.8 respectively which are significantly lower as compared to initial values. On the 12th month of storage, the pH of fish, shrimp, crab and mussel curries are 5.6, 5.6, 5.5 and 5.7 respectively. The results of the present experiments showed that the polymer coated TFS cans are suitable for processing fish products. Polymer coated TFS cans was found to withstand all the conditions of thermal processing. The TFS cans which are now available in India can be used for thermal processing of various fish products as a substitute to other packs. © 2013 Pushparajan N, et al.