Cutlets have been prepared from the minces of lizard fish (Saurida tumbil), threadfin bream (Nemipterus japonicus), jew fish (Johnius dussumieri) and miscellaneous fish. The storage characteristics of cutlet (both raw and flash fried) at 4°C, -8°C and -20°C were studied. Cutlets prepared from the minced lizard fish showed the highest acceptability. Flash fried cutlets were found to be superior in quality compared to raw cutlets. The raw cutlet had storage life of 6 days, 11 weeks and 19 weeks at 4°C, -8°C and -20°C respectively and flash fried cutlets had a shelf life of 22 weeks at -20°C

Joseph, J.

Perigreen, P.A.

Thampuram, N.

Aquatic Commons

paration an Storage of utlet from Low .. priced Fish 
JOSE JOSEPH, P. A. PERIGREEN and NIRMALA THAMPURAN 
Centra/Institute of Fisheries Technology, Cochin - 682 029 
Cutlets have been prepared from the minces oflizard fish ( Saw·ida tumbil), threadfin 
bream (Nemipterus japonicus), jew fish (Johnius dussumieri) and miscellaneous fish. 
The storage characteristics of cutlet (both raw and flash fried) at 4°C, -8°C and -20°C 
were studied. Cutlets prepared from the minced lizard fish showed the highest accepta-
bility. Flash fried cutlets were found to be superior in quality compared to raw cutlets. 
The raw cutlet had storage life of 6 days, 11 weeks and 19 weeks at 4°C,-8°C and -20oc 
respectively and flash fried cutlets had a shelf life of22 weeks at-20°C. 
As regards fish products, a number 
of recipe and formulations are available 
which can be modified to turn out popular 
products from minced fish. One such pro-
duct, namely, fish-cutlet was developed from 
minced fish and its acceptability and storage 
characteristics with respect to chemical, 
microbiological and organoleptic qualities 
are reported. 
Materials and Methods 
Freshly landed threadfin bream (Nemi-
pterus japonicus), lizard fish (Saw·ida tumbil), 
jew fish (Johnius dussumieri) and miscelhm-
eous (comprising of mainly soles, caranx, 
jew fish, threadfin bream, glassy perch) 
fish from shrimp trawlers were collected from 
the fisheries harbour, Cochin. They were 
washed thoroughly to remove dirt and slime. 
Part of the miscellaneous fish and other fishes 
were gutted, headed and washed thoroughly. 
Minces were prepared from all these separa-
tely by passing the fish through a Baader 
deboner equipped with a drum having 5 rnrn 
perforations. Mince was also prepared 
from ungutted miscellaneous fish. 
The minced raw fish was cooked under 0.35 
kg/cm2 steam pressure for 30 min and the 
cook-drip was drained out. The boiled and 
peeled potatoes were made into a paste and 
mixed with cooked mince along with salt and 
turmeric powder. Onion, ginger and chilly 
were chopped into small size and fried in 
double refined groundnut oil until brown in 
colour. To this was added the mixture con-
taining cooked fish and potato and heated 
for 3 min with proper mixing. The pow-
dered spices were added to this and mixed 
thoroughly. Approximately 40 g of the 
material was shaped into balls and flattened 
to 2 ern thickness. This was dipped in beaten 
egg-white and rolled in bread crumbs. Half 
of the cutlets were flash fried in. refined 
groundnut oil at 160-170oc for 5 seconds. 
Both raw cutlet and flash fried (FF) cutlet 
were kept at 4°C, -8°C and -20°C in 
duplex cartons lined inside with polyethy-
lene sheet for storage studies. 
The stored cutlets were thawed and fried 
(5 to 6 min) in refined groundnut oil at 160-
1800C till the surface attained uniform brown 
colour for organoleptic studies. Both samples 
kept at respective temperature were analysed 
for paired comparison by a trained taste 
panel consisting of 10 members and the overall 
acceptability was rated in a scale ranging 
from 9 to 1, 9-extremely linking, 4- acce-
ptability limit and 1-extrerne dislike. The 
results were statistically analysed. 
The weight loss on cooking was deter-
mined by weighing the sample before and 
after r;ooking. The moisture, protein, salt 
and fat of the cutlet were determined by the 
method of AOAC (1975), peroxide value (PV) 
and free fatty acids (FF A) by the methods of 
Lea (1952) and AOCS (1946) respectively. 
The samples were analysed for total bact-
erial number, Escherichia coli, total coliforrns, 
faecal streptococci and coagulase-positive 
staphylococci. The total aerobic plate count 
(TPC) was determined by pour plate method 
using tryptone glucose agar media. 
Plates were incubated at 29 ± 1 oc for 48 h 
and counts taken. Total coliforms were 
FISHERY TECHNOLOGY 
PREPARATION OF CUTLET FROM LOW-PRICED FISH 71 
estimated using desoxycholate agar, Esche-
richia coli using ter gitol-7 agar (T 7 ), 
faecal streptococci using KF media, and 
coagulase positive staphylococci using Baird 
Parker agar employing the ISI method (IS: 
2237-1971). 
Results and Discussion 
The ingredients used for the preparation 
of cutlet are shown in Table 1. About 65% 
Table 1. Ingredients for the preparation of 
fish-cutlet 
Minced meat (raw) 
Cooked and peeled potato 
Peeled onion 
Salt 
Ginger 
Green chilly 
Pepper 
Cloves 
Turmeric powder 
Oil (double refined) 
1000 g 
300 g 
150 
" 30 " 
15 " 
10 " 
2 " 
2 " 
1 " 
100 ml 
of the ingredients used was minced fish and 
this was cooked to remove excess water and 
to get a firm and fibrous texture. The weight 
loss on cooking was substantial and the mince 
from whole miscellaneous fish showed the 
highest value (Table 2). The inherent chara-
cteristics of the minced flesh are important 
Table 2. Weight loss during cooking in 
steam at a pressure of 0.35 kgjcm 2 
for 30 min. 
Fish mince 
Whole miscellaneous fish 
Gutted miscellaneous fish 
Threadfin bream 
Lizard fish 
Jew fish 
Percentage 
weight loss 
39 
34 
35 
33 
36 
in determining the quality of cutlet. A good 
cutlet is firm, crisp and savory. 
The acceptability of cutlet prepared 
from different species and mixed species is 
given in Table 3. Cutlet prepared from the 
minced lizard fish showed the highest acce-
ptability. The mince from miscellaneous 
Vol. 21, 1984 
Table 3. Acceptability of cutlet prepared 
from minces of different species of 
fish 
Fish mince Score Remarks 
Whole miscellaneous 3.00±0.42 Bitter 
taste and 
soft 
texture 
Gutted 5.00±0.85 Fair taste 
miscellaneous fish and 
slightly 
soft 
texture 
Jew fish 7.30±0.92 Very 
good 
taste, 
firm and 
fibrous 
texture 
Threadfin bream 7.50=j=0.95 
" 
Lizard fish 8.0±0.55 
" 
catch was not suitable for cutlet preparation 
because the product showed bitter taste, 
soft and pasty texture. The bitter taste 
might be due to the mixing of the gall bladder 
contents with the mince. Significant texture 
degradation might be due to the gut proteases 
and the catheptic enzymes of the muscle 
tissue which are dispersed when mincing the 
whole fish causing hydrolytic changes in 
the muscle· resulting. in soft texture for the 
finished product. The cutlets ft om gutted, 
mixed catch had a lower acceptability than 
those from individual species, due to poor 
texture and less intense characteristic flavour. 
Since the majority of fish in the mixed catch 
was small in size, it was difficult to remove 
the gut contents completely. Grantham 
(1982) reported that even low levels of con-
tamination by visceral materials from gutted 
fish can cause extensive proteolysis of the 
mince. Good quality cutlet with high sen-
sory ratings was obtained from the mince of 
gutted individual species. 
The chemical composition of FF and raw 
cutlets prepared from lizard fish is given 
in Table 4. The changes in PV, FF A, 
72 JOSE JOSEPH, P. A. PERIGREEN AND NIRMALA THAMPURAN 
Table 4. ComposWon of cutlet from lizard 
fish 
Moisture, % 
Crude protein, % 
Fat,% 
Salt, % 
Flash fried Raw cutlet 
cutlet 
62.65 
15.41 
5.92 
1.88 
66.39 
16.51 
3.74 
1.99 
moisture and bacteriological quality of the 
cutlets during storage at 4oc are shown 
in Table 5. The peroxide values showed 
a decrease while the changes in FF A values 
are insignificant during storage. Since the 
oxidation is a surface effect (Grantham, 1982) 
the coating with egg-white may function as 
an oxygen barrier, thus preventing the fat 
from oxidation. Cutlets are highly spiced 
and the anti-oxidant properties of spices 
(Zain, 1979) might have further reduced the 
possibility of peroxide formation. The pero-
xides being unstable undergo decomposition 
and many of the decomposition products 
formed interact with proteins. This might 
have resulted in a reduction of PV. Cooking 
of the mince deactivates lipolytic enzymes 
(Lall et a!., 1975) protecting the cutlet against 
FFA formation. The characteristic taste 
of cutlet was significantly reduced by 7-8 
days storage at 4 oc and afterwards deve-
loped an off-taste which may be due to the 
bacterial growth (Table 5). 
As seen from Fig. 1, FF and raw 
cutlet had a practical storage life of 6 days 
and the FF cutlets were superior in 
organoleptic quality compared to raw cutlet 
during the early stages of storage. At the 
end of the storage both had almost the same 
rating. The better acceptability of FF sam-
ples may be due to the production of some 
flavour producing components on flash 
frying. 
- Flash fried cutlets 
o-----• Raw cutlets 
Storage in days 
Fig. 1. Changes in organoleptic scores of cutlets 
stored at 4°C 
The changes in PV and F FA of F. F. 
and raw cutlet stored at- soc are shown in 
Table 6 and the sensory changes in Fig. 2. 
Table 5. Changes in moisture, PV, FFA and TPC of cutlets stored at 4°C 
Moisture PV FFA TPC/g* 
FF Raw milli eq./kg %oleic acid FF Raw 
Days FF Raw FF Raw 
0 62.65 66.39 8.16 9.5 0.98 2.03 6.4xl03 2.1xl04 
2 63.48 66.42 9.58 7.84 0.63 l.x7 2.8xl03 8.4xl03 
5 62.74 65.33 4.76 8.33 1.538 2.76 
7 63.98 65.74 5.81 6.23 1.49 2.82 6.1x105 4.7xl05 
12 6.7xl09 4.4xl09 
*The samples were free from Escherichia coli, total coliforms, faecal streptococci and coagulase 
positive staphylococcus 
FISHERY TECHNOLOGY 
PREPARATION OF CUTLET FROM LOW-PRICED FISH 73 
10~ 
9 
8 
\ 
7 \ 
t\. 
w4 
~3 
~2 
I 
o------,o F Josh fried cutlets 
o---- -o Row cutlets 
', 
........... -o-___ -
oL-~,~2~3~4~5~76-=7~8~9~Jo~,~,~~~2-7.13~,4~15 
Fig. 2. 
StoraaP. in '<~eeks 
Changes in organoleptic scores of cutlets 
stored at -8° C 
Table 6. Changes in PV and FFA during 
storage at -8°C 
Days PV milli eq./kg FFA% oleic acid 
FF Raw FF Raw 
0 
3 
6 
12 
8.16 
6.82 
2.80 
1.59 
9.50 
7.78 
6.85 
3.98 
0.98 
0.81 
0.564 
0.655 
2.03 
1.23 
1.08 
1.92 
Both the PV and FF A showed the same 
trend as in the case of samples stored at 4oc. 
The shelf-life of both FF and raw cutlet 
did not show much difference on storage at 
-8°C and both had storage life of II 
weeks. The sensory changes were rapid 
during the early stages of storage and slowed 
afterwards. It was mainly due to the changes 
in flavour. 
The changes in PV and FF A and sensory 
qualities of the samples st~red at -20o<: are 
presented in Table 7 and Fig. 3 respectJvely. 
Table 7. Changes in PV and FFA during 
storage at -20oC 
Days PV millieq./kg FF A % oleic acid 
FF Raw FF Raw 
0 8.16 9.55 0.98 2.03 
7 7.8 8.2 1.21 1.56 
11 5.0 7.66 0.51 1.094 
16 2.56 3.58 0.56 1.05 
22 4.50 6.22 1.52 2-32 
Vol. 21, 1984 
10 o---o F la!-h fr~ .cutkltli; 
o-----o Row cutlets 
9 
2 
J ' I I ' I ' ' 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 I 16 
Storage in weeks 
I I I I 
18 20 22 24 
Fig. 3. Changes in organoleptic scores of cutlets 
stored at -20° C 
The PV reduced slowly during storage and 
the changes in FFA were negligible. The 
F F and raw cutlet had storage life of 
22 and 19 weeks respectively. The flavour 
change was the limiting factor in determining 
the storage life. 
The production of cutlets from the 
mince of shrimp by-catch and other less 
utilized species may be a viable technology 
for their economic utilization. The product 
has a satisfactory storage life at -20oc. For 
shorter duration of storage higher temperature 
say ·-8°C can be used. To s~ore cutlet ~bove 
the freezing temperatures IS not advisable 
because the storage life is very short. Flash 
frying the cutlet before storage enhances its 
flavour and acceptability and destroy the 
surface contamination if any. Cutlets pre-
pared from individual species . have be~ter 
acceptability than those from mixed species. 
If mixed species are to be used a careful 
screening of the species is necessary base.d on 
the intrinsic characteristics of the mmces 
from these species. 
The authors are thankful to the Director, Central 
Institute of Fisheries Technology, Cochin for the 
permission to publish the paper. 
References 
AOAC (1975) Official Methods of Ana-
lysis (Hortwitz W., E.d.) 12t~ Edn., 
Association of Official Agncultural 
Chemists, Washington 
74 JOSE JOSEPH, P. A. PERIGREEN AND NIRMALA THAMPURAN 
AOCS (1946) Official 
Methods. American 
Society, Ca, Sa, 40 
and Tentative 
Oil Chemists 
Grantham, E. J. (1982) Minced Fish 
Technology- A Review. F AO Fish. 
Tech. Pap. (216), FAO, Rome 
IS: 2237 (1971) Specification for Frozen 
Prawns (Shrimps) (First revision) Indian 
Standard Institution, New Delhi 
Lall, B. S., Manzer, A. R. & Heitz, D. F. 
(1975) J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 32, 
1450 
Lea, C. H. (1952) J. Sci. Fd Agri. 3, 
586 
Zain, A. M. (1979) in Advances in Fish 
Science and Technology, (Connell J. J. Ed.) 
p.223 
FISHERY TECHNOLOGY 


Preparation and storage of cutlet from low-priced fish

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Preparation and storage of cutlet from low-priced fish

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