Table 10. — Fatty acid content of Spanish mackerel {Scomberomorus maculatiis) packed in vacuum-sealed bags. 



showed the highest free fatty acid content at 

 the end of the storage period. 



Fillets dipped with 180 ppm of (Na)2EDTA, 

 (Na)4EDTA, and (Ca)2EDTA were lower in 

 peroxide content than samples injected with 

 these compounds after 12 months' frozen stor- 

 age (Table 11) . The peroxide formation in the 

 samples increased up to the ninth month. A de- 

 crease in peroxide content from the ninth 

 month to the 12th month was noted (Table 11) . 



The concentration of the various compounds 

 used affected the peroxide content. Samples 

 dipped with 180 ppm of (Na)2EDTA were 

 found to have the lowest peroxide content after 

 12 months of frozen storage (Table 11). Pe- 

 roxide formation was best retarded in these 

 samples treated with 180 ppm of these com- 

 pounds. 



The organoleptic texture scores of samples 

 dipped in 180 ppm of the various compounds 

 can be seen in Figure 6 and Table 12. After 6 

 months of storage, the taste panel rated these 

 samples in the range of 2.8 (EDTA) to 4.0 

 [ ( Na) aEDTA] . Scores for these samples af tei 

 12 months of frozen storage were below 3.0. 



Three of the five samples treated with the dif- 

 ferent compounds, however, were rated equal 

 to or better than the control in texture after 

 12 months of storage. These were those 

 treated at the 180 ppm level of (Ca)2EDTA, 

 (Na)2EDTA, and (Na)4EDTA, and 125 ppm 

 of (Ca)2EDTA, ( N a )4 E D T A , an d 

 Ca(Na)2EDTA. 



6 9 



TIME IMONTHSI 



Figure 6. — Organoleptic score for texture of Spanish 

 mackerel fillets treated with 180 ppm of EDTA and 

 certain salts of EDTA. 



10 



