Instrumental-sensory evaluation of texture for fish sausage and its storage stability

Distinct formulations of fish sausage were developed from commercially underutilized fish caught from the coastal regions of the Sultanate of Oman. The storage stability of the products was evaluated microbiologically at -20°C for 12 weeks and once that was deemed to be satisfactory, quality assessment was implemented. The latter focused on the instrumental and sensory attributes of texture. In a first series of experiments, the level of starch in the formulation was varied from 0 to 48% (w/w of raw fish). Results demonstrated that instrumental hardness correlated strongly with the sensory hardness and both attributes increased in magnitude with higher starch additions to the preparation. However, no correlation was observed for firmness, brittleness and adhesiveness, a result indicating a weakness in the customary definition of these instrumental/sensory attributes for valid implementation of the quantitative descriptive analysis. Finally, affective testing argues that textural desirability is achieved in formulations containing 8% starch, and the overall consumer acceptability is improved further with the addition of selected spices to the product.