36 BULLETIN 908, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Changes Occurring in Fish Held in Pickle and in Dry Salt. 



A number of experiments on a laboratory scale and on a compara- 

 tively large scale were conducted to determine what changes occur 

 when fish remain for certain periods of time in pickle and in dry salt. 



LABORATORY SCALE. 



Fish about 5 inches long, said to have been out of the water only 

 two hours, both eviscerated and uneviscerated, were used for the 

 first series of experiments. They had been carried in pickle with a 

 specific gravity of 1.1212 at 25°/25 ? C. and a salt content of 15.5 per 

 cent. 



Some of these fish, in covered porcelain evaporating dishes, were 

 allowed to stand for some time in pickle obtained from a freshly 

 prepared lot at an adjacent cannery. The composition of this 

 pickle at the stated intervals is shown in Table 13. 



Table 13. — Composition of pickle in which fish were held. 





From eviscerated fish. 



From uneviscerated fish. 



Condition. 



Specific 



gravity 



. (by pic- 



nometer), 



25725° C. 



Salt 

 (NaCl). 



Specific 



gravity 



(by pic- 



nometer), 



25°/25° C. 



Salt 

 (NaCl). 





1. 1279 

 1.1150 

 1.1152 

 1.1157 



Per cent. 

 16.49 

 14.50 

 14.49 

 14.49 



1. 1279 



' 1. 1099 



1.1120 



1. 1132 



Per cent. 

 16 49 





13.56 





13.98 





13.97 







Table 14. — Composition offish held in pickle and in dry salt (2 to 96 hours). 





Water. 



Fat. 



Total 

 volatile 

 nitrogen 



(amnio- 

 nia and 

 amines). 



Moisture and fat 

 free basis. 



Acidity 

 of fat 

 (N/20 



sodium 



ethylate 

 per 



gram). 



Condition of fish. 



Total 

 volatile 

 nitrogen 

 (ammo- 

 nia and 

 amines). 



Amino 



acid 

 nitrogen. 



Eviscerated fish in pickle: 



Per cent. 

 69.68 

 63.75 

 62.30 

 67.39 



69.33 

 63.22 

 62.63 

 68.25 



52.42 

 52.68 

 53.31 



51.85 



50.58 

 52.56 



Per cent. 

 4.36 

 4.62 

 3.94 

 3.69 



3.97 

 5.86 

 5.65 

 3.77 



5.20 

 4.85 

 5.00 



6.31 

 6.01 

 6.44 



Mg. 

 16.3 



Mg. 



62.8 



Mg. 



1.53 



.96 



1.00 



1.00 



1.87 

 1.68 

 1.37 

 1.34 



1.09 

 1.00 



1.00 



1.44 

 1.03 

 1.18 



Cc. 

 12.3 





12.6 





10.5 

 7.0 



18.6 

 13.9 



31.1 

 24.2 



69.7 

 45.0 



12.5 





10.7 



Uneviscerated fish in pickle: 



15.5 



24 hours 



14.6 





15.0 





12.9 



14.0 

 12.8 

 15.2 



12.8 

 13.9 

 14.0 



46.1 



33.1 

 30.1 

 36.5 



30.6 

 32.0 

 34.1 



16.9 



Eviscerated fish in dry salt: 



17.0 





16.7 





16.4 



Uneviscerated fish in dry salt : 



17.3 





17.1 





15.1 







