Maintaining Quality Control Through the Use of Seafood Preservation Techniques
In addition to the impending effects of global warming, one of humanity’s primary concerns is the accumulation of toxic pollutants in our oceans. This decades-long irresponsible practice of discarding all manner of waste material in the sea now threatens the remaining stocks of most edible fish species and the fishing industry’s future worldwide. While this serves to highlight the urgent need for marine conservation, it also underlines the vital role of seafood preservation measures to ensure the quality of those fish that remain available to this massive industry and its billions of consumers. In practice, that means every fish landed counts and must, therefore, be safe and acceptable for human consumption.
From the consumer’s viewpoint, the only way to judge the quality of a fish is by its freshness. At one time, these marine delicacies were available only from fishmongers, where they were freely displayed on porcelain slabs and visible to buyers. Their smell served as the most reliable indicator of freshness. Before seafood preservation became necessary for the global distribution of frozen and processed products, those fish were sold whole or filleted and deboned on request, in the ports where they were landed, and often on the same day.
Today, most of our fish is caught by the crews of large trawlers and factory ships that often spend weeks at sea before returning to port to dispose of their proportionately large catches. Add the time spent afloat to that required to auction and distribute the catch, and it is not hard to understand why ice and saltwater alone are insufficient for reliable seafood preservation. From the moment they are removed from the sea, the quality of fish begins to deteriorate. Storing seafood in ice and salt will slow the process, but a more stringent approach to quality control will be necessary before too long.
Marine species provide a convenient home for microorganisms that seldom cause them harm whilst they are alive and in their natural habitat. However, once landed, death follows soon, ending their natural protection. At this point, bacteria pose a double threat. Some might be pathogenic to humans, causing food poisoning, while, without seafood preservation techniques, some can cause putrefaction or other undesirable tissue changes. Furthermore, post-mortem metabolic activity can give rise to degenerative changes even without bacterial action.
The latter phenomenon frequently occurs in crustaceans, such as prawns, langoustines, and lobster. The changes present as black spots on the ordinarily white or pink flesh in these species. The process is known as melanosis. A group of enzymes named polyphenol oxidases act on the amino acid tyrosine to form the black pigment melanin. Adverse consumer reaction to the blackening necessitates suitable seafood preservation measures. Ironically, the pigment has no ill effects on the taste or texture of affected crustaceans.
In practice, since so many fish products are now frozen or processed, their appearance is the only criterion by which a consumer can judge freshness and quality. Consequently, many of the additives employed by the fishing industry are designed to preserve or enhance the natural colour of fish species. These additives must meet the standards set by the relevant regulatory bodies. Tequisa uses only natural ingredients in its seafood preservation products, which comply fully with EU, WHO, and America’s FDA regulations.