Preservation of fish cutlet (Pangasius pangasius) at ambient temperature by irradiation

Development of gamma irradiation preservation of ready-to-eat, commercially prepared fish cutlet and improvement of microbiological quality were studied. Studies on the shelf life extension by a combination of irradiation and ascorbic acid treatments of fish cutlets prepared at the laboratory and commercial scale have also been conducted. Cutlets prepared at the laboratory scale according to selected formulation and irradiated at a dose of 5 kGy could extend the shelf life up to 5 weeks at room temperature. In commercially prepared fish cutlets, maximum shelf life extension observed was 14 days for samples treated with 5 kGy of irradiation and stored at ambient temperature on the basis of combined microbiological, chemical, and organoleptic evaluation. The microbiological quality of the commercially prepared fish cutlets revealed the unhygienic conditions of the place where the fish was prepared and the unhygienic storage conditions and temperatures. As a result, the chemical and irradiation treatments were not effective in extending the shelf life of the cutlets under the storage condition used in this study compared with that of the laboratory scale-prepared cutlets.