Studies on the chemical quality of cured fish products from the west coast of India

Fish curing is one of the oldest industries of the coastal areas of India. It has been estimated that about 50 to 70% of the marine fish catches of India are at present being processed into cured products {Government of India Publication, 1951 a and b). Though fish curing is of this magnitude, it is one of the least developed industries of India, although efforts are being made in some of the maritime States such as Madras, Travancore-Cochin and Bombay, to improve curing by providing better facilities to the fishermen engaged in the industry. The methods practised are generally primitive and the attention paid to cleanliness and sanitation leaves much to be desired. Only 17-3% of the total fish landing is being cured through the Government fish curing yards {Government of India Marketing Report, 1951), the rest being processed in private yards which are not under the supervision of Government agencies

Determination of total volatile nitrogen in cured fish products

Estimation of total volatile nitrogenous bases has been generally made use of in routine analysis for the chemical assessment of the degree of spoilage in fish samples. The measurement of this index of spoilage furnishes a reasonably accurate and rapid method for the determination of the keeping quality of cured fish products. In fact it haa been pointed out by Velankar (1952) that total volatile nitrogen gives a better index of spoilage than the trimethylamine content. Tarr and Ney (1949) also observed that the test for the amount of trimethylamine present is not likely to prove a very sensitive measurement of the bacterial spoilage of varieties of Pacific coast fishes. It is suggested that trimethylamine is a product during the early stages of spoilage (Collins, 1938; Hess, 1941) and that it may be lost indiscriminately during storage

Studies on the curing and preservation of "choodai" I. Some Aspects of Dry Salting

The methods adopted in India for the curing of " Choodai " (Sardinella spp.) in places where this fish constitutes a major portion of the fishery can be broadly classified into the following, viz., sun-drying, dry-salting, wet-salting and pit-curing. A specialised method known as the ' Colombo method of curing' is practised on a commercial scale in some places on the West Coast (Nicholson, 1930). The choice of the method adopted by the fishermen seems to be based more on convenience rather than on convention. When there is heavy fishing the fishermen invariably resort to sun drying and often spread the fish on the sandy beach itself for drying. The product thus obtained will not be wholesome and may contain, besides sand, other materials from the mud. The fish is sometimes washed in sea-water before being spread for drying, but this practice also is not strictly followed anywhere. In the dry salting and wet salting processes also many such unhygienic practices are often met with. Immediately after catch, the fish is mixed with salt without washing and removal of the slimy matter (the quantity of salt being a matter of approximation in places where Government fish-curing yards are not available) and left in some containers until a good market is found for the fish. No strict time limit is followed for the salting process and as such the products can either be under-salted or oversalted. As regards pit-curing it can be considered to be the most unhygienic method practiced in the curing of "Choodai". The fish without washing is mixed with salt, generally in excess, and put in pits lined on the inside with palmyrah leaves, covered with palmyrah leaf mats with earth above and tramped upon to give pressure (Nicholson, 1930). The product obtained is often in a disintegrated form with a viciating smell and mixed with a very high percentage of sand

Preliminary investigations on the pit curing of fish in India

Among the methods adopted for the curing of fish in India the practice of pit curing common in certain parts of the Madras State and the neighbouring region of Travancore is of considerable interest for several reasons. Broadly speaking the method consists in burying the fish after salting in mat lined pits for varying periods ranging from a few days to a fortnight or more before marketing in a partially dried condition without any further washing or drying. The products possess a distinct flavour and taste much appreciated by some sections of the public in the eastern parts of Madras State. However the process is mainly adopted by private curers outside the Government curing yards and the quality of the commercial samples leaves much to be desired due to their unwholesome appearance and commonly observed infestation with maggots (Krishna Pillai et ah, 1956). Since pit curing forms one of the main methods of curing around Mandapam, it was considered desirable to undertake a comprehensive investigation of the local practices relating to this cure and the keeping quality of the products. A knowledge of the biochemical changes occurring during maturation under semi-anaerobic conditions which constitute the basis of this cure is necessary for obtaining a better product by this method

Studies on the preservation of fish by pickling

Pickling with salt, vinegar, sugars and spices forms a traditional method of food preservation and is also widely employed for fish curing. A great variety of fishery products prepared with vinegar and spices enjoy wide popularity in Germany and other north European countries. Pickling is also practised in the East in countries like China, Japan and the Philippines (Jarvis, 1950). Although pickled products are of a semi-perishable nature since the concentrations of salt and vinegar employed are limited by considerations of palatability, they possess a greater appeal to consumers than salted and dried fish. Moreover these methods are better suited for curing fatty fish which are susceptible to rancidity in other salting methods. Apart from a few spiced and pickled products like PADDA and MOLLEI prepared on a domestic scale from Seer fish, Colombo Cure of the West Coast forms the chief commercial method in India which employs principles of pickling. Mackerels, Seer and non-fatty sardines are treated by this process and Malpe in South Kanara exports considerable quantities of Colombo cured fish to Ceylon (Nicholson, 1930). Malabar tamarind or ' Goruka Puli', the dried fleshy pod of Garcinia cambogea is used as an adjunct to salt in order to obtain the desired acidity. Though Goruka Puli is specially brought from Ceylon for this purpose, inferior varieties like ' Koda Puli' are also used on a smaller scale. The objectives of the present investigation were to study the chemical aspects of the pickling methods with a view to improve the existing practices and to explore the possibilities for a wider application of pickling methods to smaller varieties of fish like sardines which are mainly sundried at present. Studies on the preparation of high quality spiced and pickled products on the lines of foreign recipes like ' Marinated Herring ' and ' Russian Sardine' were also undertaken in an effort to develop new products for our fishing industry

Search for Short-Term Periodicities in the Sun's Surface Rotation: A Revisit

The power spectral analyses of the Sun's surface equatorial rotation rate determined from the Mt. Wilson daily Doppler velocity measurements during the period 3 December 1985 to 5 March 2007 suggests the existence of 7.6 year, 2.8 year, 1.47 year, 245 day, 182 day and 158 day periodicities in the surface equatorial rotation rate during the period before 1996. However, there is no variation of any kind in the more accurately measured data during the period after 1995. That is, the aforementioned periodicities in the data during the period before the year 1996 may be artifacts of the uncertainties of those data due to the frequent changes in the instrumentation of the Mt. Wilson spectrograph. On the other hand, the temporal behavior of most of the activity phenomena during cycles 22 (1986-1996) and 23 (after 1997) is considerably different. Therefore, the presence of the aforementioned short-term periodicities during the last cycle and absence of them in the current cycle may, in principle, be real temporal behavior of the solar rotation during these cycles.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Solar Physic

Reducing Intrathecal Baclofen Related Infections: Service Evaluation and Best Practice Guidelines

Objectives: Intrathecal baclofen (ITB) pumps are an effective treatment for spasticity; however infection rates have been reported in 3–26% of patients in the literature. The multidisciplinary ITB service has been established at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, UCLH, Queen Square, London for over 20 years. Our study was designed to clarify the rate of infection in our ITB patient cohort and secondly, to formulate and implement best practice guidelines and to determine prospectively, whether they effectively reduced infection rates. / Methods: Clinical record review of all patients receiving ITB pre‐intervention; January 2013–May 2015, and following practice changes; June 2016–June 2018. / Results: Four of 118 patients receiving ITB during the first time period (3.4%, annual incidence rate of infection 1.4%) developed an ITB‐related infection (three following ITB pump replacement surgery, one after initial implant). Infections were associated with 4.2% of ITB‐related surgical procedures. Three of four pumps required explantation. Following change in practice (pre‐operative chlorhexidine skin wash and intraoperative vancomycin wash of the fibrous pocket of the replacement site), only one of 160 ITB patients developed infection (pump not explanted) in the second time period (0.6%, annual incidence rate 0.3%). The infection rate related to ITB surgical procedures was 1.1%. In cases of ITB pump replacement, the infection rate was reduced to 3.3% from 17.6%. / Conclusions: This study suggests that a straightforward change in clinical practice may lower infection rates in patients undergoing ITB therapy

Lidar Observations of aerosol layers just below the tropopause level during IFP-INDOEX

A lidar system has been used at Gadanki (13.5º, 79.2ºE) to study the characteristics of aerosol layer (cloud) occurring just below the tropical tropopause. The preliminary results of the lidar observations indicate that the cloud occurs ~ 2 km below the tropopause. The top and bottom edges of the cloud have propensity for ice crystal presence with liquid droplets/ vapours in-between. The clouds show temporal fluctuations (in their backscattering ratio) with temporal scales of the order of 30–90 min