DEVELOPMENT OF FISH MINCE PAKORA FROM A CULTURED CARP SPECIES, LABEO ROHITA (HAM.)

A convenience ready-to-cook product Fish Mince Pakora (FMP) has been developed at the Fisheries Research Complex of the Punjab Agricultural University from the deboned meat of Labeo rohita (Ham.). The sensory evaluation of the product (on a 9-point hedonic scale) scored between 7.7 and 8.5 for different sensory attributes. The overall acceptability score was 8.0. The cooking yield of FMP was 98.43% with fat retention capacity of 359.51%. The crude protein content of the fried FMP was 22.79%, total lipids 3.36%, total soluble sugars 2.60% and gross energy 188.31 kcal/g.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Processing of carps such as Labeo rohita into value-added ready-to cook/ready-to-eat products such as fish mince pakora (FMP) has a great potential in the present scenario of the increasing number of nuclear families and more and more women getting jobs. The development of FMP from L. rohita has a special significance in making carp culture sustainable. Carps can be cultured in semi-intensive fish farming systems, which are based on low-input technology and are most widely adopted in south and Southeast Asian countries. But as such, carps have limited consumer acceptability because of the presence of intramuscular bones. Processing of carps into value-added products such as FMP can enhance their acceptability and market value as revealed by the sensory evaluation of the product (FMP).