Physicochemical changes and sensory quality of liquid smoked milkfish nuggets

Abstract

Liquid smoke method is an alternative to traditional smoking techniques, which aims to reduce polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) levels in the  final product by degrading cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin during pyrolysis of wood using a high-temperature combustion process. Research in  liquid smoke is readily available in its application on raw fish product. However, less information is available in the ready-to-serve-product made of  fish. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effects of varying types and concentrations of liquid smoke on the sensory and proximate  characteristics of milkfish nuggets, depending on the hardness, deformation, gel strength, organoleptic, and proximate testing. Parametric data  were utilized for variance analysis and Tukey’s test. Non-parametric data, such as organoleptic and hedonic data, were analyzed using the Kruskall–  Wallis test and the Mann–Whitney test. Varying types and concentrations of liquid smoke were found to significantly affect the hardness,  deformation, gel strength, and protein and carbohydrate levels, as well as the organoleptic and hedonic properties on a 9-point scale starting with 1  to 9, with 1 as very unpleasant and 9 very pleasant (p < 0.05), but had no significant effect on the moisture or fat content of the resulting milkfish  nuggets (p > 0.05). The best treatment was found to be 3 % re-distillation liquid smoke. Overall, the organoleptic and hedonic properties of milkfish  nuggets processed with filtered and double-distilled liquid smoke were acceptable to be applied. Moreover, determining the type and concentration  of liquid smoke is important consideration in the production of milkfish nugget in order to produce best physical and chemical qualities.  Furthermore, milkfish nuggets were found to contain essential amino acids and fatty acids, which can be obtained when 3 % re-distilled liquid  smoke was utilized to produce milkfish nuggets. This finding practically reveals the method and composition of milkfish nugget liquid, which was  more likely to have the highest preference for consumers and may open the opportunity for the food industry to develop more derivative products  from fish.