Studies on Sensory Evaluation, Quality Improvement and Acceptability of Treated and Frozen Cuttlefish (Sepiella Inermis)

Dr. R. Rekha, Dr. K. Vishnu Prasad, Varsha Naik

Abstract: Introduction: The research work done on overall improvement of quality and acceptability of frozen cuttlefish (Sepiella inermis). International markets depend on quality of product. Quality is often related to the price at which the commodity is purchased or the purpose for which it is to be used. In relation to seafood, the quality is the sum total of its composition, nutritive value, degree of freshness, physical damage, deterioration while handling, processing and storage, distribution and marketing, hazards to health etc. From the consumer's point of view, some of the important factors that determine the quality of the product are: species, odour, appearance of the species, flavour, texture, presence of parasites, presence of food poisoning bacteria, presence of toxic metals, presence of foreign matter, composition of fish, and finally the packing. Cuttlefishes are utilized as an important food item in various countries because of its delicacy as raw consumed food. The Russians and Japanese eat raw cuttlefish and squid with sauce and they have a wide range of culinary preparations out of squid, cuttlefish and octopus. The freshness of the products is very important when the product is consumed raw. There is, therefore a need to improve the quality and safety of seafood products in the International market as well as for domestic trade. Methodology: Speciemens of Sepiella inermis were collected from the fishing trawlers of Visakhapatnam fishing harbour. Raw cuttlefish was preprocessed and treated with the food grade chemicals (Hidratech_4A and Whitech_3), treatments were done in fresh water, salt water along with control (without chemicals in ice), and treated cuttlefishes were stored in deep freezer maintained at -20?1?C. The quality of mantle was evaluated at every stage of processing and during storage once in a month for the period of 7 months. Evaluation of sensory quality revealed marked variation between treatments and the months of storage. Results: Upon storage, the overall sensory scores decreased significantly (P<0.01) for all samples. Chemicals were effective in preserving the quality with the progression of storage, especially in samples treated in fresh water, as revealed by better score compared to control. The overall sensory scores revealed better acceptability of treated samples than control. A comparison of the quality changes in pre-processed and frozen stored cuttlefish (sepiella inermis) revealed that the sensory changes were relatively less in preprocessed cuttlefish than that of frozen stored cuttlefish. Highly significant differences were found in frozen stored cuttlefish with progression of storage.

Keywords: cuttlefish, fish processing, sensory studies, organoleptic studies

How to Cite?: Dr. R. Rekha, Dr. K. Vishnu Prasad, Varsha Naik, "Studies on Sensory Evaluation, Quality Improvement and Acceptability of Treated and Frozen Cuttlefish (Sepiella Inermis)", Volume 14 Issue 7, July 2025, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 1216-1223, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR25718165423, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR25718165423