Evaluation of the effects of vacuum packaging on the shelf life of ready-to-cook (RTC) marine fish sausages at frozen storage conditions

Md Faruk Abdulla, Subho Murmu, Mst Tahsin Farzana, Md Rashedul Kabir Mondol, Md Tariqul Islam*

University of Rajshahi, Department of Fisheries, Motihar, Rajshahi-6205, Bangladesh

ARTICLE INFO	ABSTRACT
TYPE: Original scientific paper https://doi.org/10.17508/CJFST.2025.17.2.01 PDF	Vacuum packaging combined with low storage temperatures is an effective technique for extending the shelf life of fishery products. Ready-to-cook (RTC) fish sausages from marine fish (tuna, mackerel, and croaker) were produced by optimizing ingredients and processing conditions. Shelf life was assessed by analysing moisture, pH, free fatty acid (FFA), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and aerobic plate count (APC) at monthly intervals during frozen storage under packaging in a multilayer plastic pouch. The protein content of fish sausages was 10.92-13.44%, with the highest protein found in tuna sausage and the lowest in mackerel sausage. Croaker sausage was the lightest in comparison to the tuna and the mackerel sausages. The hardness value of mackerel sausage was higher than that of tuna and croaker sausages. The moisture content ranged from 57.23-58.99%, where with the highest value found in a croaker sausage and the lowest in a tuna sausage. Significantly (p<0.05) lower moisture content was observed in the vacuum pack sample, particularly in the mackerel, compared to the control sample during the storage period. During the frozen storage period, almost all samples showed a decreasing trend in pH and an increasing trend in moisture, FFA, TBARS, and APC levels. No significant differences (p>0.05) were observed in FFA values between the air-packed and vacuum-packed samples during the frozen storage period. However, moisture, pH, FFA, and TBARS values were within the acceptable limits during the frozen storage period. The APC exceeded the acceptable limit (7 log CFU/g), at approximately 6 months for air-packed and 7 months for vacuum-packed tuna sausage; 5 months for air-packed and 7 months for vacuum-packed mackerel sausage, and 4 months for air-packed and 6 months for vacuum-packed croaker sausage. Vacuum packaging showed slightly better results compared to air packaging in extending shelf life, which could be utilised by small-scale entrepreneurs for fish sausage production.
*CORRESPONDENCE Tariqul Islam tariqul.fish@ru.ac.bd
ARTICLE HISTORY Received: March 31, 2025 Accepted: May 26, 2025
CITATION Abdulla MF, Murmu S, Farzana MT, Mondol MRK, Islam MT. Evaluation of the effects of vacuum packaging on the shelf life of ready-to-cook (RTC) marine fish sausages at frozen storage conditions. Croatian Journal of Food Science and Technology (2025) 17 (2) 1 – 17
COPYRIGHT: © 2025 by the author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).
	KEYWORDS vacuum packaging; fish sausage; ready-to-cook; shelf life; frozen storage
	KEY CONTRIBUTION Croaker fish sausage was lighter in colour than the tuna and mackerel sausages. Mackerel fish sausage had the highest hardness value compared to tuna and croaker sausages. Vacuum packaging extended the shelf life of the marine fish sausage by two months compared to air packaging under frozen storage conditions. Vacuum packaging showed slightly better results compared to air packaging in extending shelf life of fish sausage.