Effects of different salting and smoking processes on the microstructure, the texture and yield of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) fillets

The effect of different conditions during the salting and smoking process o n the microstructure and the texture of salmon fillets was studied in inter action with different raw salmon material; ocean-ranched Atlantic salmon (S almo salar) from Iceland and two groups of farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo sa lar) from Norway, one from Northern Norway and one from Western Norway. The ocean-ranched salmon was found to have significantly smaller fiber diamete rs and higher shear force compared to the farmed fish. The cross-sectional area of the muscle fibers decreased during the salting and smoking process. Small differences were noted in the cross-sectional area between smoked fi llets processed by different salting and smoking methods. However, the cros s-sectional area of fibers in dry salted fish fillets from the farmed group s were significantly smaller than in the brine salted fillets, as the fiber s shrunk more during dry salting than brine salting. The force required to shear the smoked fillets was significantly higher than for the unprocessed fillets, but was not found to be related to the different salting and smoki ng processes. Yield during smoking was not related to the initial cross-sec tional area or the shear force of the unprocessed muscle. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.