EFFECT OF PROCESS VARIABLES ON THE QUALITY OF SWORDFISH FILLETS FLAVOREDWITH SMOKE CONDENSATE GIUSEPPE MURATORE 1 , AGATA MAZZAGLIA, CARMELA MARIA LANZA and FABIO LICCIARDELLO D.O.F.A.T.A., Section of Food Technology, Faculty ofAgriculture University of Catania Via Santa Sofia 98, 95123 Catania, Italy Accepted for Publication November 15, 2006 ABSTRACT An alternative technique to traditional smoking of swordfish was evalu- ated. Fillets were dry salted and/or brine salted in 30% NaCl, and smoked by dipping in smoke condensate solution at different concentrations. Chemical (water-phase salt, pH, total volatile basic nitrogen, lipid oxidation), micro- biological (total mesophilic count and fecal coliforms count) and sensory analyses were carried out in order to establish which technique gave the best results in terms of sensory quality. The different salting techniques gave different water-phase salt contents, which influenced the microbial growth and the production of volatile bases. The smoke condensate concentration was ineffective toward microbial growth, but it was a differentiating factor for sensory panel. The dry-salted product smoked with 5% smoke condensate was preferred because it maintained the natural taste of fish, coupled with a pleasant flavor of smoke. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS The paper presents results concerning the optimization of a small-scale smoking process applied to swordfish. Transformation of such product is often hand-made and performed by small industries, which could take advantage of the present findings by applying the indicated salting technique, liquid smoke dosage and drying conditions. The study also highlights quality indexes and aims at encouraging a widespread use of smoke condensates as an alternative to traditional smoking. 1 Corresponding author. TEL. +39 957580210. FAX: +39 957141960 EMAIL: g.muratore@unict.it Journal of Food Processing and Preservation 31 (2007) 167–177. All Rights Reserved. © 2007, The Author(s) Journal compilation © 2007, Blackwell Publishing 167