Effect of Chitosan and Chitosan Nanoparticles on the Quality of Fish Fingers During Cold Storage

Nanotechnology could be playing a key role in fish processing as well as preservation. Therefore, this study assessd the effect of using 1% shrimp and crab chitosan and their nanoparticles on the physical, chemical, microbiological, and sensory quality attributes of the catfish fingers during storage at 4°C±1 for 15 days. The main objective of this study was to assess the impact of the addition of chitosan and its nanoparticles with 1% to the formula of the catfish fingers on volatile organic compounds, fatty acid composition, and biochemical, organoleptic, and microbilogical quality of the catfish fingers stored at 4±1°C for 15 days. Chitosan or chitosan nanoparticles significantly (P<0.05) decreased myristic, palmitic, stearidonic, and rachidonic acids, while it significantly (P<0.05) increased lauric, stearic, arachidic, oleic, gadoleic, eicosapentaenoic, and docosahexaenoic acids. On the other hand, there were significant differences in volatile compounds of the catfish fingers as affected by the added chitosan and its nanoparticles, including aldehydes, alcohols, carboxylic acids, sulfur-containing compounds, aromatic compounds, and other compounds. In addition, pH value, total volatile basic nitrogen, trimethylamine, thiobarbituric acid, and total bacterial counts of stored catfish fingers at 4±1°C were significantly (P<0.05) decreased but did not exceed acceptability limit for all groups. In conclusion, chitosan and chitosan nanoparticles trials had a longer shelf-life of up to 15 days if stored at 4±1°C compared to control sample, according to obtaining quality indices results. Additionally, chitosan nanoparticles improved the quality attributes of the stored catfish fingers at 4 ±1°C.