Mullet, a coastal fish species, is commonly used as a salted dried fish in many countries, including Korea, Japan, and the southeastern United States. The purpose of this investigation was to develop high-quality products of salted semi-dried mullet (SSDM) using natural salt and Salicornia herbacea L. (SAL). The antioxidant activity of SAL was investigated by in vitro studies. The physicochemical and nutritional characteristics of fresh mullet (FM), salted control (SSDM-CON), and SAL-treated (SSDM-SAL) mullet groups were analyzed. The moisture, ash, and crude protein contents were significantly increased in the SSDM-SAL group, whereas the salinity was decreased when compared with the SSDM-CON group. Lipid oxidation occurred in the FM and SSDM groups, as indicated by the increase in peroxide (PV), acid (AV), and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) values during the storage period. The protein pattern on the sodium dodecyl-sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis showed similarities between the groups, while the amino acid and fatty acid contents also varied in the FM and SSDM groups depending on their processing methods. Initially, the total bacterial count was significantly higher in the SSDM groups than in the FM group. However, the SSDM-SAL group had a markedly lower total bacteria count than the FM and SSDM-CON groups during 21 days of refrigerated storage. This result indicates that SAL treatment can improve mullet's safety from microorganisms, includes beneficial biochemical parameters, and can extend their shelf-life through refrigerated storage.
Keywords: Salicornia herbacea L.; nutritional characteristics; quality; salted semi-dried mullet.