Quality and Shelf-Life Assessment of Pasteurized Trout Soup During Refrigerated Storage

The aim of this study was to investigate the quality changes of pasteurized soup prepared from smoked trout trimmings during 8 months of refrigerated storage at 3 degrees C. Thiobarbituric acid (TBA, mg malonaldehyde/kg), total volatile content (TVB-N, mg N/100 g), total aerobic mesophilic plate count, pH value, color measurement, and sensory evaluation were used to determine quality changes. After 8 months of storage, TBA values reached 0.83 +/- 0.09 mg malonaldehyde/kg. Despite a marked increase in the TBA value at Month 8, the soup was still of acceptable quality. The TVB-N value was close to the European Commission limit on fresh fish at Month 4, and further increase was not significant (p > 0.05). Total aerobic mesophilic count reached a maximum value of 4.15 +/- 0.23 log cfu/g at Month 2 with 3.20 +/- 0.02 log cfu/g at Month 8. The soup had an overall acceptability score of 7.16 +/- 0.68 ("like moderately" on a 1-to 9-point hedonic scale). Results suggest that smoked trout trimmings can be used to maximize the value of co-products by producing a ready-to-eat soup.