Protein‐related changes during salting of milkfish (Chanos chanos)

Abstract Milkfish collected from brackish water culture ponds were wet and dry salted for 24 h and the dry‐salted fish were sun dried for 48 h. Biochemical changes, ie changes in α‐amino nitrogen, non‐protein nitrogen, salt‐soluble nitrogen, total free amino acids, essential amino acids and sulfhydryl groups, during salting and sun drying were studied. The reduction in these parameters was slightly higher in wet‐salted fish compared with dry‐salted fish. Further reduction in these parameters was noticed on sun drying of dry‐salted fish. Electrophoretic studies showed a decrease in the number of bands during wet and dry salting at a slow rate up to 9 h, after which high‐molecular‐weight proteins decreased faster than medium‐molecular‐weight proteins in both the 24 h wet‐ and dry‐salted samples. Further reduction in the number of bands and their intensity was observed on sun drying for 48 h. The medium‐molecular‐weight protein seems to be more stable. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry