Value Addition of Croaker (Johnius dussumieri) through Development of Ready-to-Cook Fish Fingers and Evaluation of Their Frozen Storage Stability

The utilisation of relatively less-preferred fish species through value-added processing can improve resource utilisation while providing convenient fish-based foods. The present study was undertaken to develop ready-to-cook frozen fish fingers from croaker (Johnius dussumieri) and evaluate their quality during prolonged frozen storage. Fresh croakers were procured from a local market, manually deboned and minced, followed by seasoning with pre-standardised ingredients, steam cooking, shaping, battering and breading. The prepared fish fingers were packed in food-grade polyethylene pouches and stored at −20°C for 180 days. Samples were evaluated at 30-day intervals for proximate composition, total volatile base nitrogen (TVBN), peroxide value (PV), free fatty acids (FFA), total plate count (TPC) and sensory characteristics to assess their frozen storage stability. Fresh croaker had 74.63% moisture, 17.29% crude protein, 6.46% crude fat and 1.08% ash; while such parameters for raw fish fingers were 58.23%, 18.06%, 6.13% and 1.50%, respectively. During frozen storage, the moisture content of the fingers decreased to 52.11%; whereas the apparent crude protein, fat and ash contents increased to 17.35, 9.07 and 1.81%, respectively. TVBN increased progressively from 4.28 to 10.47 mg/100 g, while PV increased from 3.16 to 6.33 mmol O2/kg fat and FFA from 3.33 to 9.56% of total lipid as oleic acid, indicating gradual biochemical and lipid deterioration during frozen storage. The TPC showed an initial increase followed by a marked decline during prolonged frozen storage. Sensory quality gradually decreased with storage, but overall acceptability remained at 4.0 on a five-point hedonic scale after 180 days. The findings demonstrate that croaker, a less preferred marine fish, can be effectively converted into value-added ready-to-cook frozen fish fingers that maintained acceptable nutritional, microbiological and sensory quality throughout six months of storage at −20°C. The study provides a practical approach for improving the utilisation and marketing of a relatively less-preferred marine fish through value addition.