Packaging of Shidal: The present need for the markets in North East India

Shidal is a popular and widely consumed fermented fish product especially in North-Eastern part of India. Fermented fish products are liable to get contaminated with various human health hazards, biological as well as chemical during handling and marketing. Use of improper packaging material could cause unintentional adulteration of shidal which can lead to deterioration of shidal quality. Therefore, this study was aimed at identification of appropriate packaging material which is significant for food safety and hygienic marketing of shidal. The study was conducted at ambient conditions with three packaging materials such as retort pouch, polyester-polyethylene laminate and polyethylene pouch, respectively against a control. Quality indices such as pH, water activity (a_w), Free fatty acids (FFA), Peroxide value (PV), Total volatile base nitrogen (TVBN) and Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) were analyzed. On 90^th day of study, pH, a_w and microbial load in shidal packed with retort pouch was recorded as 6.05, 0.85 and 6.08 log cfu/g, respectively. The results demonstrated that retort pouch could be considered as the appropriate packaging material for shidal due to its ability to preserve desirable biochemical and microbial qualities of shidal to a better extend as compared to other two packaging materials.