Avaliação da qualidade do Mapará (Hypophthalmus spp.) estocado entre camadas de gelo provenientes dos mercados de pescados de Santarém – PA

Abstract

Maintaining the good quality of fish is essential for consumer health and for strengthening the fish production chain. One of the main ways to maintain this quality is through the use of ice for fish storage. Thus, this research aimed to identify, through sensory, microbiological and chemical analyzes (H2S, ammonia and pH tests) factors that offered variation in the shelf life of the Mapará (Hypophtalmus spp.) ice layer storage process. Two collections were carried out at the Mercado do Pescado fair in Santarém-PA: experiment 1, with 143 fish and experiment 2, with 81 fish. For the analyses, two fish were removed for sensory evaluation, two for pH evaluation, one fish for ammonia test, one for the H2S Eber test and one fish for microbiological analysis. The results obtained in the sensory analysis indicated that the fish rejection point occurred between the 17th and 20th day. In experiments 1 and 2, the pH values in fish meat were above 6.5, that is, outside the limit established by law. In the Éber test for H2S, there were positive results from the 11th day. The Éber test for ammonia showed a positive value from the 14th day on. In the microbiological analysis, NMP/g values of <1.8 to 79x104 (NMP/g) were found for thermotolerant coliforms and from 11 to >1,600 (NMP/g) for total coliforms. Ice storage for Hypophthalmus spp. proved ineffective for long periods. The result allows us to infer that monitoring, research and continuous awareness of good fishing practices and post-harvest fish management are necessary.