Effects of newer slurry ice systems on the quality of aquatic food products: a comparative review versus flake-ice chilling methods

The application of slurry ice systems—consisting of ice-water suspensions prepared from marine water and chilled at subzero temperatures—to the storage of aquatic food products is receiving increasing attention. Such binary systems—described in the scientific literature as flow ice, fluid ice, slush ice or liquid ice—afford two main advantages concerning the handling and storage of seafood: a faster chilling rate as compared with flake-ice or refrigerated seawater (RSW), deriving from its higher heat-exchange capacity, and the reduced physical damage caused to seafood products by its spherical microscopic particles as compared with conventional ice. Oxidation and dehydration mechanisms may also be limited by the overall coverage of the whole surface of the products. In this article we review the theoretical rationale of slurry ice systems, their main technical features, and current and future practical applications aimed at increasing the added value of aquatic food products.