Advances in high-pressure processing of fish muscles

The application of high pressure for processing fish muscles has showed a great potential on improving the physicochemical, microbial and sensory quality of fish muscles. High pressure results in the inactivation of microorganisms and autolytic enzymes and lead to an extension of fish muscles shelf life. High pressure inhibits the formation of putrefactive compounds and maintains the hardness of fish muscles, resulting in higher sensory quality compared to untreated muscle over storage time. However, the discolouration, cooked appearance and lipid oxidation are the drawbacks that could limit the application of high pressure on fish muscles. Besides, pressure-induced gelling and high-pressure freezing/thawing of fish muscles are the main areas being investigated intensively to obtain the benefits of high-pressure processing on fish muscles.