SENSORY EVALUATION AND PROXIMATE COMPOSITION OF SMOKED FRESHWATER PRAWNS (Macrobrachium rosenbergii)

Abstract

This study evaluated the effect of smoking and the presence of aromatic herbs on the quality of freshwater prawns muscle (Macrobrachium rosenbergii), through the analysis of sensory characteristics and proximate composition. Fifty-five freshwater thermally stunned prawns, with average weight of 33.9 ± 13.49g, were used. After cephalothoraxes and carapaces removal, the freshwater prawns were washed, weighed, identified, immersed in brine solution (20%) and then smoked at a temperature of 50 to 90°C. The experimental design was completely randomized with two treatments (T1 = smoked freshwater prawns with herbs; T2 = smoked freshwater prawns without herbs), with 25 experimental units per treatment. After smoking, samples were frozen (-18ºC) for proximate composition analysis and portions were sensorially evaluated by 40 tasters based on a simple stimulus method. The smoked freshwater prawns showed medium values of crude protein (44.72%), total lipids (1.39%) and ashes (3.04%) comparatively higher than the values of the in natura freshwater prawns (16.80%, 0.30% and 0.89%, respectively). The aromatic herbs did not affect significantly the proximate composition of smoked freshwater prawns and their use did not interfere on the sensory characteristics evaluated. The smoked freshwater prawns had a good acceptance by the taster.
KEYWORDS: Aquaculture, fish processing, organoleptic characteristics.