58205 - QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF FISH AND FISHERY PRODUCTS

Course contents

Students will have to acquire a good command of the multi-faceted issue of fish quality (nutritional, functional, sensory, and freshness features), be the fish caught in the wild or farmed. Students will learn how to assess the quality of finfish and shellfish, intended either for direct consumption or for processing, through the use of instruments and, whenever possible, by sensory analysis. Students will also be able to critically evaluate information in the field of seafood quality and determine the relevance, authority and appropriateness of a resource.

The concept of fish quality (consumer perspective, industrial perspective).

Nutritional quality . Recommended Dietary Intakes of energy and nutrients for the Italian population (LARN, 1996) and the recently issued Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA). Compositional characteristics of finfish and shellfish as naturally occurring functional foods. How finfish and shellfish fit human requirements for energy and nutrients, as well as the most widely known Food Guide Pyramids. Serving sizes and Index of Nutritional Quality for finfish and shellfish. Nutrition labelling of fishery products. Cooking-induced changes in compositional characteristics of finfish and shellfish. True and apparent nutrient retention coefficients. Fish and fishery products in food composition tables and databases.

Yields . Dressing and filleting yields for the most important fish species, either caught in the wild or farmed.

Sensory quality . Basic principles. How senses work. Recruiting, selection and training of panellists. Discrimination tests. Descriptive analysis. Recurrent errors in sensory analysis. An outline of consumer science (how to handle hedonistic responses). Sensory assessment of fish and fishery products as to colour, odour, flavour and texture. Instrumental measurements of Water Holding Capacity (WHC), texture and colour of fish/shellfish flesh in order to support sensory evidence. Instrument - sensory relationships.

Freshness quality . Post mortem changes in finfish and shellfish: how to tackle the intricacies of their description by chemical, physical or sensory methods. Quality Index Method (QIM): principles and species-specific schemes, illustrated by means of a dedicated software.

 

Readings/Bibliography

Badiani A., Adinolfi F., Bonaldo A., Fagioli P., Foschi C., Testi S., Gatta P.P. Guida alla valutazione sensoriale della freschezza di nasello (Merluccius merluccius), lanzardo (Scomber japonicus), suro (Trachurus spp.). Libreria Bonomo Editrice, Bologna, 2007.

Boylston T., Nollet L.M.L. (Eds), Handbook of meat, poultry and seafood quality, Blackwell Publishing Professional, Ames, IA, USA, 2007.

Lie Ø. (Ed.), Improving farmed fish quality and safety, Woodhead Publishing Limited, Cambridge, UK, 2008.

Martinsdottir E., Sveinsdottir K., Luten J., Schelvis-Smit R., Hyldig G., Valutazione sensoriale della freschezza del pesce – Manuale di riferimento per il settore ittico, QIM-Eurofish, Svansprent ehf, Iceland, 2004.

Rehbein H., Oehlenschläger J., Fishery products: quality, safety and authenticity, Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, UK, 2009.

Teaching methods

This course consists of formal lectures and supervised work, which involves how to perform:

• dressing and filleting of finfish, up to the preparation of flesh samples ready for nutritional analyses;
• sensory and instrumental evaluation of colour in fish and fishery products;
• the most important discrimination test in sensory analysis, i.e. the triangle test;
• the sensory profile of preserved and semi-preserved fish products;
• freshness quality evaluation of farmed fish by chemical (K-value), physical (Fish Freshness Meter), and sensory methods (QIM).

Assessment methods

Students have to take a 15-to-20-min. oral examination, during which they are expected to answer two to three questions related to seafood quality problems and how to prevent/solve them.

Teaching tools

Overhead and video projector, PC, laboratories.

Office hours

See the website of Anna Badiani