Quality evaluation of some edible fish sold in Chabahar fish market

After catching fish, various changes occur in the fish body and as a result of these changes the quality of the fish gradually decreases. This reduction in quality in fish is due to the growth and invasion of bacteria, autolysis process, lipid oxidation, physical and mechanical damage, that affects the freshness of the fish. Since freshness is one of the most important parameters in the fish market for the consumer, so the present study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the freshness and quality of fish sold to the Chabahar fish market by using a combination of sensory, chemical and microbiological methods.

In order to evaluate the freshness and quality, 30 fish belonging to 10 species including yellowfin sea bream (Acanthopagrus latus), frigate tuna (Auxis thazard), largemouth queenfish (Scomberoides commersonnianus), Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta), shrimp scad (Alepes djedbada), tigertooth croaker (Otolithes ruber), pickhandle barracuda (Sphyraena jello), golden snapper (Lutjanus johnii), javelin grunter (Pomadasys kaakan) and goldstripe sardinella (Sardinella gibbosa) were purchased from Chabahar fish market and immediately transferred to the laboratory after icing. The quality of the studied fish was evaluated using sensory, biochemical (TVN, TMA, TBA and pH) and microbial (mesophilic and psychrophilic) methods.

According to the results, in terms of sensory evaluation, no statistically significant difference was observed between different fishes (p>0.05), but the highest scores of sensory factors were related to tigertooth croaker (Otolithes ruber) and pickhandle barracuda (Sphyraena jello) and the lowest It was related to goldstripe sardinella (Sardinella gibbosa). The results of biochemical evaluation showed that, except for pH, the highest amount of these indicators is related to Auxis thazard and Sardinella gibbosa, and there was a significant difference in the amount of TVN, TMA and TBA with other fish species (p<0.05). The bacterial counts in all samples was less than the permissible limit, but in Auxis thazard and Sardinella gibbosa, the number of mesophilic bacterial load was significantly higher than other fish (p<0.05), as well as the Also, the lowest and highest psychrophilic bacterial load was related to Otolithes ruber and Auxis thazard, which were significantly different from each other (p<0.05).

Overall, the results of this study showed that the fish sold in the Chabahar fish market are of suitable and acceptable quality, and fatty fish such as sardines are more susceptible to spoilage than low fat fish because in this species TMA with a rate of 7.48 ± 1.00 mg/100 g reached the permissible level of spoilage.