Deterioration Indices and Histological Changes in the Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) by Different Freezing Methods

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of freezing speed and time on the deterioration indices such as Total Volatile Basic Nitrogen (TVB-N), Peroxide Value (PV), Thiobarbituric acid value (TBA), and pH, as well as the histological changes. Eighty Nile tilapias (Oreochromis niloticus) with approximate weight of 700 ± 50 g were caught from the saline water fish in research centre of Yazd, Iran in 2012. Then, the fillets were harvested and exposed to slow and quick freezing at 0.2 cm/h speed in the freezer at -18 °C during 18 hours, and 0.8 cm/h speed at -30 °C for 25 minutes, respectively. Finally, the fillets were transferred to -18 °C freezer where they were kept for 180 days. Based on the results, the changes in TVB-N, PV, TBA, pH and histological changes were less dramatic in the samples treated by quick freezing, compared to the slow freezing samples (p≤0.5).