METHODS FOR PREPROCESSING AND FREEZING OF SHRIMPS - A CRITICAL-EVALUATION

Shrimps, widely accepted as safe health food, rank first in the international seafood trade. Increasing demand for shrimps has led to shrimp farming for enhancing production throughout the world. Shrimps, unlike other foods, undergo rapid spoilage and thereby lead to wastage of raw material, unless processed adequately. Freezing, the method largely used to preserve shrimps, usually involves a long time gap between capture and processing. This necessitates adequate and efficient preprocessing measures to preserve freshness till processing. In the present review, the various methods of preprocessing viz., cleaning, beheading, peeling, cooking, icing, dip treatment in preservative solutions as well as additives, dressing of shrimps are presented and evaluated for their merits and demerits. The methods of freezing such as conventional contact freezing, quick freezing, slow freezing, brine-immersion freezing, cryogenic freezing and individual quick freezing are also dealt with critically.