The use of thyme and laurel essential oil treatments to extend the shelf life of bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) during storage in ice

Abstract

The objective of this investigation was to study the effect of thyme and laurel essential oil treatments on the quality of bluefish during storage in ice for 13 days. The quality of bluefish during storage time was evaluated by sensory, chemical, physical, physicochemical and microbiological analysis. According to the sensory evaluation results, shelf life of control and treated bluefish samples stored in ice were 9 and 11 days, respectively. Total volatile base nitrogen and trimethylamine values gave acceptable results for up to 9 days for the control groups samples and 13 days for treated groups. Free fatty acid, peroxide and thiobarbituric acid values for treated samples were lower than the control. Microbial growth during storage in ice for control samples was higher than treated samples. The results obtained from this study showed that the shelf life of stored bluefish in ice has extended by 3-4 days compare to the control samples.