Effect of packaging materials on the shelf life of frozen fish fingers

Commercially available lean fish, Sciaena aneus, was used for making battered and breaded fish fingers. The fish fingers were packed in flexible film pouches of 50 mu low density polyethylene (LEPE), 62.5 mu low density polyethylene - high density polyethylene (LD/HDPE), high molecular weight high density polyethylene (HM/HDPE) and 100 mu low density polythylene-Nylon-Primacore (LDPE/NY/PC), heat sealed and stored at -20 degree C and storage quality evaluation was conducted in comparison to the control sample which was kept without packaging. Control samples were discarded in 4 weeks time due to rancidity development, tough texture and colour changes. The samples packed in LD/HDPE/NY/PC remained in satisfactory condition up to 28 and 32 weeks, respectively, whereas LDPE and HM-HDPE packed samples remained in satisfactory condition only for 20 weeks.