| dc.description.abstract | A study was conducted to evaluate the impact of spices (turmeric, chilli, and their combination) treatment
on the quality of dried Snakehead (Channa punctatus) locally called taki immediate after production and
subsequent storage from June-October, 2015. The raw taki fish with excellent quality were collected from
the local market, treated with 2% turmeric, 2% chilli and a combination of 2% turmeric and chili after de
heading, gutting and washing and dried under sun. A control group was also dried without spices
treatment. Another group of fish was also considered for sun drying without spices treatment that were
judged as a deteriorated fish by the panel expert for better understanding of the quality of dried fish made
from rejected fish. Similarly, samples of traditional sun dried taki were also purchased from local market
to make a comparison among the products. The spices treated dried fish showed excellent quality when
judged by sensory and nutritional quality than those of the control, deteriorated and traditional sun dried
fish products. When the protein content was evaluated immediate after drying, it has been found that the
fish treated with spices have higher percentage of protein (range 62% to 67%) than those of the others
(58% to 62%).When these dried products stored for a period of 5 months under airtight plastic container,
it was observed that the quality loss was higher in untreated dried fish and showed rejected quality
attributes at the end of the experimental period. The protein percentage decreased with the increase of
storage period. The percentage of protein of this group was within the ranges of 56% to 62% while this
range was 62% to 67%initially.The range of lipid contents was 6% to 9% initially which finally decreased
to 35%. The ash content was found within the range of 10% to 12% and after 150 days of storage period it
changed to 7- 9% in laboratory made samples. The highest ash contents from 15 - 20% were observed in
the traditional dried fish samples collected from the local retail market. The percentage of moisture
showed reverse trend when analyzed the proximate composition of these products. Moisture contents of
the final products showed within the range of 18- 23% while the initial percentage was 15-19%. The
experimental dried taki were individually soaked in water bath in two temperature points as 60°C and
80°C at different time intervals. Reconstitution capacity of the dried samples increased with the increase
of water temperature and soaking time. Best water reconstitution percentage was found in the fish
samples treated with spices than those of others. The fungal infestation was higher in the untreated and
market collected dried fish products. The insects (Dermestes sp.) infestation was observed within 2
months of storage period with lower infestation in the spices treated products. This result indicated that
the spices have an impact on the quality of the final products as well as maintaining quality even longer
period of storage. The antimicrobial and anti-insect infestation properties of the spices may act upon the
fish which ultimately kept the products in acceptable quality during storage period. Therefore, the spices
specifically turmeric and chilli could be an excellent natural preservative for maintaining dried fish
quality during drying and storage. It also could be an alternative preservative against the banned and
unsafe chemicals. This technology can be adopted for commercial purposes to reduce the microbial and
insect threat on dried fish products. | en_US |
