Traditional methods to process underutilized fish species for human consumption

Abstract

The world availability of fish has decreased over the last few years due to a rise in population and a positive change in consumer attitudes toward the consumption of seafood. However, only a few species of the total catch are commercially important and a major portion of it remains unused due to inherent problems related to unattractive color, flavor, texture, small size, and high fat content. Although some of these species are industrially used for fish meal manufacture, a need for the conservation and utilization of by‐catch and underutilized species for human consumption has become necessary. One possible way to utilize such fish species is through isolation of meat and the development of secondary products such as surimi and surimi‐based products, sausages, and fermented products, among others. This article discusses a number of conventional techniques, such as chilling, curing, canning, and freezing, that are used for fish processing with reference to their application for production of value‐added products from underutilized species.

Key words:

• Fish processing
• Underutilized species
• Bulk handling
• Value‐added
• Conventional techniques
• Packaging