Recent advances in seafood technology: An overview

Worldwide demand for seafood has increased in recent years due to its prodigious nutritional properties. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO, 2016), in developed countries, processed seafood (frozen, prepared, preserved, and cured) accounts for 92% of total seafood used for food purposes; meanwhile, in developing countries, this amount is only 53%. Ensuring the quality of edible seafood raw material, fresh or processed, is not an easy task, and seafood should therefore be treated with great care from the time of fishing up to the last processing step. Seafood processing methods were initially designed to prolong shelf life and ensure food safety, but nowadays, they also address the creation of new seafood products. Seafood processing applies the most known processing methods and packing technologies to improve quality throughout preparation and storage. At the same time, methods to control all the different aspects of seafood quality need to be optimized, not only in fresh but also in processed seafood. This chapter presents an overview of the latest research in processing technologies and methodologies for preservation of seafood quality.Peer Reviewe