Quality and shelf life status of salted and sun dried fishes of Tuticorin fishing villages in different seasons

The nutritional quality and shelf life of salted and sun dried fishes of Tuticorin coastal villages were assessed seasonally. The quality parameters varied with seasons and it was poor during monsoon season. The spoilage indicators TMA-N and TVB-N of the dried fish sample did not exceed the permissible limit. During monsoon season the dried fish showed visible fungal growth within one month of storage. During the second month of the post monsoon period dried fish showed slight visible fungal growth. In summer season, no visible fungal colonies even after 90 days of storage were recorded. During the storage period dried fishes absorbed moisture from the atmosphere which resulted in the increase of microbial load and in turn led to the increase of TVB-N value. The poor quality of dried fishes were mainly due to unhygienic processing, inadequate salting, unhygienic drying, use of spoiled fish for processing and lack of air tight packing of the dried fishes.