Preparation of smoke cured fillets from oil sardine

A method of preparation of smoke cured fillets of oil sardine is described. Various procedural steps like brining, smoking, packaging etc. have been described and the shelf life assessed. Sodium propionate treatment is recommended to enhance storage life; BHA to control rancidity; and thermal treatment to overcome the insect infestation. The product has good consumer appeal

Preparation of Masmin: an improved method

An improved method for the preparation of Masmin the traditional smoked tuna of the Lakshadweep is described

Expected performances of a Laue lens made with bent crystals

In the context of the LAUE project devoted to build a Laue lens prototype for focusing celestial hard X-/soft gamma-rays, a Laue lens made of bent crystal tiles, with 20 m focal length, is simulated. The focusing energy passband is assumed to be 90--600 keV. The distortion of the image produced by the lens on the focal plane, due to effects of crystal tile misalignment and radial distortion of the crystal curvature, is investigated. The corresponding effective area of the lens, its point spread function and sensitivity are calculated and compared with those exhibited by a nominal Laue lens with no misalignment and/or distortion. Such analysis is crucial to estimate the optical properties of a real lens, in which the investigated shortcomings could be present.Comment: 20 pages, 14 figure

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

The LAUE project for broadband gamma-ray focusing lenses

We present the LAUE project devoted to develop an advanced technology for building a high focal length Laue lens for soft gamma--ray astronomy (80-600 keV). The final goal is to develop a focusing optics that can improve the current sensitivity in the above energy band by 2 orders of magnitude.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, presented at the SPIE conference on "Optics for EUV, X-ray, and Gamma-ray Astronomy". To be published in the Proceedings of SPIE, vol.8147, 201

Development status of the LAUE project

We present the status of LAUE, a project supported by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), and devoted to develop Laue lenses with long focal length (up to 100 meters), for hard X--/soft gamma--ray astronomy (80-600 keV). Thanks to their focusing capability, the design goal is to improve the sensitivity of the current instrumention in the above energy band by 2 orders of magnitude, down to a few times $10^{-8}$ photons/(cm$^2$ s keV).Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, presented at the Space Telescopes and Instrumentation Symposium in Amsterdam, 2012: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray Conference. Published in the Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 8443, id. 84430B-84430B-9 (2012

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

Scientific prospects in soft gamma-ray astronomy enabled by the LAUE project

This paper summarizes the development of a successful project, LAUE, supported by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and devoted to the development of long focal length (up to 100 m) Laue lenses for hard X--/soft gamma--ray astronomy (80-600 keV). The apparatus is ready and the assembling of a prototype lens petal is ongoing. The great achievement of this project is the use of bent crystals. From measurements obtained on single crystals and from simulations, we have estimated the expected Point Spread Function and thus the sensitivity of a lens made of petals. The expected sensitivity is a few $\times10^{-8}$ photons cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ keV$^{-1}$. We discuss a number of open astrophysical questions that can settled with such an instrument aboard a free-flying satellite.Comment: 17 pages, 18 figures, published in Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 8861, id. 886106 17 pp. (2013

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