Liquid holding capacity, texture and fatty acid profile of smoked fillets of Atlantic salmon fed diets containing fish oil or soybean oil

This study evaluates the effects of dietary vegetable oils on the liquid-holding capacity, texture properties and fatty acid composition of Atlantic salmon fillets. Three diets containing 100% of fish oil (FO), 100% of soybean oil (SO) or a 50/50 mixture of the two oils (FO/SO) as oil dietary source, were fed to triplicate groups of salmon. After slaughter, a third of the fish were studied fresh while the rest of fish were smoked and stored at two temperatures (4 degreesC or 14 degreesC) for 5 or 15 days. The liquid-holding capacity and the texture of fresh and smoked fillets were not significantly affected by dietary oil whereas the smoking yield increased with the inclusion of soybean oil. The fatty acid profile of fresh and smoked fillets reflected these of the diets, and no selective loss of fatty acids was observed after smoking and after storage. On the other hand, increased storage time and storage temperature reduced strongly the liquid-holding capacity of all smoked salmon particularly obvious as increased fiat loss, irrespective of the diets. This study showed that an increase in storage time and temperature of smoked fillets of Atlantic salmon affected the liquid-holding capacity, irrespective of the diets. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.