The effect of glaze uptake on storage quality of frozen shrimp

Ice-glazing is applied to protect the frozen shrimp from undesirable quality changes during frozen storage. Effects of initial frozen shrimp temperature on glaze uptake; glazing time on glaze uptake; and different glaze percentage on physical and chemical changes of frozen shrimp during storage were investigated. Shrimps were frozen in a spiral freezing machine (−35 °C/15 min); transferred to the air blast freezer until the core temperature reached −18 °C, −25 °C and −30 °C; submitted to glazing process; and stored at −18 °C for 180 days. The glazing percentage, pH and N-TVB levels were monitored every 45 days. This study has demonstrated the effectiveness of the glazing process as a protecting agent for frozen shrimp. A reasonable range of water uptake could be between 15% and 20% to guarantee the final quality. Therefore, it is important to prevent temperature fluctuations during transportation and storage to maintain the quality of the frozen shrimps.