COMPARISON OF MEAT QUALITY OF FARMED ACIPENSER PERSICUS USING TWO PROCESSING METHODS OF DRY AND MIX SALTING

The processing and comparison of quality of meat in farmed Acipenser persicus using two methods of dry and mix salting was carried out to provide a new formula for processing new sturgeon products. Ten fish specimens with a mean weight and length of 2 kilograms and 60cmthat were farmed for two years were used in this study. The meat of the specimens was processed using pure salt and a mixture of salt and one percent madder. Two replicates were used for each method. In the first method, dry sodium chloride was used at a rate of 250g of sodium chloride per kilogram body weight of fish (dry salting). In the second method, about 109 of madder was added to the 250g of sodium chloride (mix salting). Microbial examinations included total bacterial counts, Staphylococcus and Coli form bacteria assessment and chemical examinations included salt, protein and fat absorption, TVN, peroxide, and pH tests. Sensory tests as well as microbial and chemical experiments were carried out for the quality control of the processed samples for a period of three months. According to the results, Iranian National Standard and pure plate culture method (10-1,10-2 and 10-3) Coliform counts in the two different meat samples was lower than 10 per gram of meat. The total bacterial count and the Staphylococcus bacteria count was higher in the meat samples processed with dry salting. Besides, the rate of salt absorption and peroxide was lower in these samples. The protein, fat, pH and humidity were higher in the samples treated with dry salting. However, taste, flavor and color of the meat processed with a mixture of sodium chloride and madder was higher quality than that processed with dry sodium chloride. No significant differences were observed in chemical factors such as TVN and salt absorption for the two processing methods. This was also the case for microbial analysis including bacterial counts such as Staphylococcus and total bacterial count