The Quality of Smoked Skipjack during Storage Time at Room Temperature

Abstract

Fish is one of the foods rich in protein, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins and minerals, which are beneficial to health. Fish and other fishery products are susceptible to the process of deterioration and decay due to the activity of microorganisms and enzymes contained in the fish meat so that processing and preservation need to be done to prevent the deterioration of quality and damage of fish. Smoking is a technique of preservation in the form of a combination of salting, heating and fumigation treatment so as to produce a durable product with a distinctive flavour. Research aimed to determine the quality of smoked skipjack during storage time at room temperature. This research was conducted through two stages: sample preparation and sample testing including pH, moisture content and total plate count as well as confirmation of molds for smoked skipjack stored at room temperature on day 0 to day 4. The results showed that storage time at room temperature significantly influenced the increase of pH value, moisture content and microbial growth of smoked skipjack as shown by regression equation of pH value y = 0.300x + 6.057 with R2 = 0.656 and r = 0.810; moisture content y = 3.627x + 39.693, with R2 = 0.502 and r = 0.708 and total plate count y = 1.972 + 1.283x with R2 = 0.951 and r = 0.975.