Gutting Process in Horse Mackerel: Relationship Between Quality, Food Safety, Public Health

Abstract

The preservation of the freshness of seafood until the consumption following the catching is possible by storing in cold storage conditions in compliance with hygiene rules. Fish products purchased for consumption at homes and in the restaurants should be stored under cold storage conditions after being gutted in order to avoid loss of quality if they will not be consumed immediately. In this study, the effect of the gutting process applied to the horse mackerel fish samples on the quality of the fish stored at +4 degrees C was revealed. TMAB load in the ungutted fish samples (TB) was found to be lower 21% as compared to the gutted samples (BB). Chemical deterioration (in TVBN and TBARS) between the two groups was found to be statistically significant (p<0,05). In addition to this, the sensory quality difference was detected in both fish groups in parallel with the changes in eye fluid refractive indexes. This study has revealed that the gutting process that may be applied at home or in the restaurants, will delay the sensory, chemical deterioration and microbiological spoilage in the fish samples. Therefore, this food application will have made a significant contribution to the protection of food safety and public health in the mentioned places.