Comparison of the Effects of Ohmic and Conventional Heating Methods on Some Quality Parameters of the Hot-smoked Fish Pate

This research investigates the effect of ohmic and conventional heating methods on the nutritional characteristics of hot-smoked fish pate, including proximate composition, total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N) level, thiobarbituric (TBA) value, pH, and mineral content. The hot-smoked pate samples exposed to different heating methods were examined during storage periods. The technological aspects of the ohmic and conventional heating methods, including process time, energy efficiency, and energy consumption, were also evaluated. TVB-N levels of samples treated by Ohmic heating were considerably higher than those of samples treated by conventional heating at the end of storage. Meanwhile, lower TBA and pH values were detected in ohmic heated fish pate (OH) compared to conventional heated fish pate (CH). These quality parameters were within the permissible limits for all the samples of hot-smoked fish pate. However, ohmic heating had a significant reduction on process time, energy efficiency, and energy consumption compared to conventional heating method. Temperature and electrical conductivity of the hot-smoked fish pate during the ohmic heating was highly correlated (R-2 = 0.999). Ohmic heating, as a volumetric heating technique, promises to be an appropriate alternative to conventional heating for processing hot-smoked fish pate, although further research is required.