Physicochemical and Microbial Changes in Fish Cake during Storage Obtained by Sterilization and Oxygen Absorbers

The main function of food packaging technology is to protect products from environmental contamination, particularly oxygen and microorganisms. Therefore, this research aimed to analyze and optimize the effects of sterilization and oxygen absorbers on physicochemical and microbiological changes in fish cake during storage. The experiment was conducted with two and three replications using Split-Plot Randomized Design (SPRD), with sterilization type (semi-aseptic fish cake (SACP) and sterilized fish cake (STERILE)) as the main plot and oxygen absorbers’ presence (with or without) as the subplot. Fish cake samples were collected from branded retailers in the Kayuagung District, Ogan Ilir Regency, and several parameters were observed. These included pH, total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N), total plate count (TPC), hardness (texture), texture profile analysis (cohesiveness, gumminess, and chewiness), and colour changes. The results showed that sterilization type significantly influenced pH (4.5–7.2), TVB-N (0.00–11.67 mg-N/100 g), TPC (3.50–6.25 log CFU/g), hardness (21.9–36.9 N), cohesiveness (0.82–0.95), gumminess (1745–5432 g), chewiness (1621–25,114 g), and colour changes (4.21–11.41 ΔE). Among all treatments, STERILE method had better quality and stability compared to others.