12 Indian Vet. J., July 2014, 91 (07): 12 - 14 zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Organoleptic and Biochemical Quality Changes in Fish Pickle Prepared from Freshwater Catfish PangasiuszyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA (Pangasianodon hypothalamus) zyxwvutsrqpon S. S. Patil, A.U. Pagarkar 1 , K. J . Chaudhary, A. S. Desai and S. M. Shaikh Department of Fish Processing Technology, College of Fisheries, Shirgaon, Ratnagiri 415629, Maharashtra. (Received : 10-07-2013; Accepted : 23-09-2013) Abstract zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA A value added product, 'fish pickle' was developed from PangasiuszyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA (Pangasianodon hypothalamus) and stored at ambient conditions. The organolep- tic evaluation showed increase in overall accept- ability up to 150 days and afterwards showed decreasing trend, pH showed decreasing trend (4.26 to 3.97), peroxide value (PV) increased from 0.29 to 1.16 meq. of 0 2 /Kg and total volatile base - nitrogen (TVB-N) values ranged from 0 to 24.02 mg/lOOg. Analysis of quality changes revealed that Pangasius pickle could be stored up to 180 days at ambient conditions. Pangasius, a freshwater catfish has no scales, has very few bones, meat is firm, easy to remove skin, white meat with mild flavour are the qualities of the fish. Yield is around 35% for boneless fillets (Patil, 2013). These conditions together make this fish suitable for preparing the value added product like pickle. In this paper organoleptic and biochemical changes during its storage were discussed. Materials and Methods Freshly caught Pangasius (P. hypothalamus) fishes ranging from 1400 to 1600 g were brought to laboratory in iced condition using insulated boxes. Fishes were dressed, de-skinned, filleted and cut into l x l cm size meat pieces. Using Standard recipe (Patil, loc. cit), Pangasius fish pickle was prepared. The standardized Panga- sius pickle recipe was used, which contains 100 g Pangasius meat, 50 ml sunflower oil, 16 g chilly powder, 0.2 g fenugreek, 1 g mustard seed dal, 12 g ginger, 3g green chilly, 12 g garlic, 0.1 g curry leaves, 0.2 g red chilly, 0.025 g garam masala powder, 25 ml warm water, zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 1 Corresponding author: Email : pagarkarau@gmail.com 0.7 g turmeric powder, 12 g salt, 0.5 g pepper powder, 1.8 ml lemon juice, 0.1 g asafetida, 8 ml vinegar, 250 ppm sodium benzoic acid. Prepared Pangasius pickle was packed in stand up pouches and stored at ambient conditions. All the samples were analyzed at 15 days interval for organoleptic and biochemical characteristics during storage. Sensory evaluation was carried out using 9 point hedonic scale (ISI, 1975). Biochemical quality parameters viz. pH and peroxide value (PV) were determined as per AOAC (2005). TVB-N content was analyzed using Conway micro-diffusion method (Beatty and Gibbons, 1936). Results and Discussion The moisture, crude protein, fat and ash content estimated in fresh Pangasius meat were 73.29, 12.03, 13.47 and 1.21% respectively (Table I). Similar observations with slight variation were reported by Begum et al. (2012) observed moisture (78.29 %), crude protein (12.78 %), fat (16.55 %) and ash (1.78 %) in Pangasius meat. The organoleptic evaluation of Pangasius pickle stored at ambient condition showed increase in overall acceptability up to 150 days and after- wards showed decreasing trend. It was found that, the pickle was not acceptable after 180 days during storage (Fig. 1). Increase in overall acceptability was due to the improvement of taste on maturation by penetration of salt and spices. Deodhar (2006) observed gradual increase in overall acceptability from 0 to 75 days and it decreases at the end of storage period. The pickle in stand-up pouches and pearl pet jars was not in acceptable condition after 180 and 165 days respectively. In the present study pH of Pangas- ius pickle showed decreasing trend from 4.26 to 3.97 throughout the storage period (Fig. 2). The The Indian Veterinary Journal (July, 2014)