Shelf Life Extension and Improvement of the Nutritional Value of Fish Fillets through Osmotic Treatment Based on the Sustainable Use of Rosa damascena Distillation By-Products

The objective of this work is the comparative study of different osmotic treatments at 37 °C on the quality and shelf life of chilled sea bass fillets. Fish fillets were treated using osmotic solutions consisting of oligofructose (40%–50%–60%) and 5% NaCl with (BP/OT) and without (OT) former antioxidant enrichment by using Rosa damascena distillation by-products. Water activity decreased to approximately 0.95 after 330 minutes of osmotic treatment. Untreated and osmotically treated fish fillets (BP/OT) and (OT) were subsequently stored at 5 °C and their quality was evaluated based on microbial growth and lipid oxidation. Osmotic treatment extended significantly the shelf life of fish in terms of microbial growth; however, it also accelerated its lipid oxidation. The impregnation of Rosa damascena phenolics not only counterbalanced this negative effect, but led to a more than four-fold increase of the shelf life of sea bass, as compared to the untreated samples.