EFFECT OF FOOD-ADDITIVES ON QUALITY OF SALTED PINK PERCH (NEMIPTERUS-JAPONICUS)

Wet salted pink perch, Nemipterus japonicus (Bloch), prepared using a curing mixture containing common salt. three preservatives (sodium ben zoate, potassium sorbate and sodium dihydrogen phosphate), and an anti oxidant (butylated hydroxy anisole), was found to have better keeping quality and longer shelf-life over those prepared using common salt al one. Thiobarbituric acid number (TBA number), free fatty acids (FFA), total volatile base nitrogen (TVBN), alpha-amino nitrogen (AAN) and to tal plate count (TPC) increased during storage, thereby resulting in d ecreased sensory scores for overall acceptability. Food additives were found to effectively enhance the quality, and extend the shelf-life o f salted fish considerably. Further, the effect of the additives was o bserved to be slightly more pronounced at ambient temperature (26.8+/- 3.3-degrees-C) than at cooler storage temperature (2.5+/-1-degrees-C).