PLANT POLYPHENOLIC COMPOUNDS

Spoilage caused by the chemical reactions and microorganisms are principal cause of quality losses of fish and fish products during handling, processing and storage. Development of rancid odours and unpleasant flavours, changes of colour and texture as well as lowering nutritional value in fish can be prevented by selective natural additives. Due to the potential health hazards of synthetic additives currently used, natural additives, especially polyphenolic compounds have been intensively searched as the safe alternatives. Polyphenols (PP) are the natural antioxidants prevalent in fruits, vegetables, beverages (tea, wine, juices), plants, seaweeds and some herbs and show the antioxidative and antimicrobial activity in different fish and fish products. The use of polyphenolic compounds also appears to be a good alternative for sulphiting agent for retardation of melanosis in crustaceans. Phenolic compounds as the processing aid for textural modification of fish mince and surimi has also been successfully implemented. They have been proved to be the potential additives to prevent the quality deterioration or to improve the quality of fish and fish products.