Production of fish pickle from abundantly available popular Batticaloa lagoon fishes

A study was carried out to select the most suitable lagoon fish for the production of fish pickle. The abundantly available popular Batticaloa lagoon fishes were selected based on the data collected from a questionnaire survey. Accordingly fish pickles were prepared using Tilapia, Etroplus and Catfish. Nutritional assessment and sensory evaluation were performed to select a suitable lagoon fish to prepare the fish pickle. The tilapia fish pickle was found to be superior in nutritional composition. It had high amount of soft flesh, protein and ash and moderate amount of fat The tilapia fish pickle was chosen as superior by the sensory panelists. It expressed higher scores for flavour, texture, taste and over all eating quality compared to the others. Cat fish pickle had the amount of fat but this fish is not suitable for the preparation of pickle due to its small amount of flesh, fishy odour, low amount of protein and ash, and lowest scores for flavor, texture, taste and overall eating quality. Etroplus gave moderate nutritional values and sensory scores. Therefore, tilapia was selected as the most suitable fish founding in the Batticaloa lagoon for the preservation as fish pickle