Shelf life of ice‐stored redfish, Sebastes marinus and S. mentella

Abstract
Redfish (Sebastes marinus and S. mentella) were caught by an Icelandic trawler, stored at about 0°C in boxes in the hold and landed in a German fishing harbour. Boxed redfish, differing in storage time on board, were subsequently stored in melting ice in the chill store of the laboratory at a temperature of +4°C until the borderline of saleability was reached. the quality loss of the ice‐stored redfish was monitored by a number of chemical, physical and microbiological parameters including volatile base nitrogen (TVB‐N), trimethylamine (TMA), trimethylamine oxide (TMAO), creatine, ethanol, Fishtester readings and number of cfu. AH parameters were correlated with sensory analysis and time in ice.The rate of deterioration of iced redfish depended on the conditions of storage. Sensory analysis was the most accurate indicator of the limit of saleability of redfish. Iced redfish, stored mainly in a chill store (4–5°C) onshore, had a shelf‐life of 16 to 19 days from catching. Fish stored at 0.5°C in the hold of the fishing vessel had a shelf‐life of 22 days: These results reflect the different storage temperatures and the effects of handling, transport and storage damage on the quality of the fish. the Fishtester proved to be very useful for the determination of deterioration. Measuring ethanol, TVB‐N and TMA gave no information about quality changes during the first 12 days of storage.