Organoleptic, physiochemical and microbiological qualities of dried fish, tengra (Mystus tengara) with different levels of salt and turmeric powder

Fresh tengra fish (Mystus tengara) samples were collected from fish market, Kawardha and different levels of salt and turmeric powder were added (0% salt and 0% turmeric powder, T0; 2% salt with 0.2% turmeric, T1; 4% salt with 0.2% turmeric, T2; 8% salt with 0% turmeric powder, T3 and 12% salt with 0% turmeric powder, T4). The processed and salted fish were dried in hot air oven at 60°C for 20 hours. Carcass yield (%), salt content (%), pH and moisture content of cured fish were respectively 39.06 - 43.87%, 3.15 - 4.59%, 6.52- 6.90 and 4.91 – 6.84 %. The sensory assessment showed that treatment T2 had the highest score for texture 5.70; appearance 8.30, odor 8.02 and taste 8.05 while T0 and T1 had least sensory scores. Aerobic plate count of various treatments were found significantly different (p Lass Than 0.05) with the lowest in treatment T4 (3.3 x 103 cfu/g) followed by treatment T2 (3.7 x 103 cfu/g) and highest in treatment T0 (5.4 x 103 cfu/g). Tengra fish cured with 4% salt and 0.2% turmeric powder (T2) found to be the best in yield, microbial load and sensory attributes. The dry salted fish processed with low level of salt and turmeric powder are best for human consumption, particularly for the patients of blood pressure and diabetes.Therefore, preparation of dried products from low-cost fish will help in increasing the employment opportunities and also reduce post-harvest losses.