Sensory and chemical changes in spice-salted herring as affected by handling

Samples of herring (Clupea harengus) were spice-salted, using the same recipe, as partially gutted (nobbed), completely gutted or fillets. The salt uptake and the development of ripening characteristics were followed during storage at 5+/-1 degrees C. In fillets the salt uptake was more rapid than that in nobbed or gutted herring. The fillets lost less water than the herring and increased considerably in weight during the salting period. Fillets did not develop the characteristic ripened taste whereas the other two groups had a high intensity of ripened taste. All trial groups sampled during salting had similar texture characteristics. The general proteolytic enzyme activity at pH 8 was low in all groups, although it appeared to be slightly higher in the samples containing part of the intestines. Results indicate that the rate of salt uptake was an important regulator of ripening during spice-salting of herring products.