Sensory assessment of quality in fish and seafoods

Abstract

Fish is one of several commodities where the tools of sensory evaluation to assess sensory quality are utilized in two distinct, but not mutually exclusive ways. The first is in the production process through grading by experts for adherence to particular product standards as part of national and international regulatory programmes. The second is in the study of fish and fish products for a variety of purposes such as product development, the study of fish species and the effects of handling and processing treatments on quality and shelf-life, the study of consumer perceptions of fish and fish quality, and in the ongoing search for developing of reliable chemical tests which have use in predicting the freshness state of the product. The aim of this chapter is to present the current status of the sensory assessment of fish quality, with particular emphasis on developments during the last ten years; recent developments within sensory science during this time are also included.