Hurdle Technology

Sea products; It is a perishable product due to its biochemical composition, high microbial load on the skin and gills of fish. The natural microflora, which is more adapted to low temperatures, results in lower thermal bacterial shock at storage temperature. The development of new fish processing techniques is required with minimal changes in the demand for fish or seafood, sensory Biochemical and nutritional quality. This situation has led to the emergence of barrier technology, especially in the field of seafood technology.

Barrier technology is a combination of various protection methods to make a product shelf-stable, improve quality, and provide added security. This technology is used in many countries of the world, including India. It is a process of inhibition for the factors that cause the growth of microorganisms for the preservation of nutrients.

High temperature, cooling, irradiation, drying and smoking etc. to eliminate microorganism growth. A combination of barriers such as The application of several barriers can reduce the rate of fish spoilage caused by the spoilage microbe. This article focuses on the protective effect of barrier technology on the quality and shelf life of fish and fishery products, with the latest, consolidated updated information.

An Overview of Hurdle Technology

From time immemorial, human society has been dependent on food for their existence. Seafood, eggs, fish etc. Various nutrients are obtained from plants and animals such as All these are consumed by man to meet his nutritional needs, to increase the value of proper body growth and development, health and appetite. However, foodstuffs of animal origin, by their nature, deteriorate quickly and deteriorate as a result of microbial activity. Therefore, to reduce this toxicity of food, ‘barrier technology’ was developed a few years ago for the production of safe, stable, nutritious, tasty and economical food.

Barriers technology also called combined methods or combined processes is an integrated approach to basic food preservation methods to make food safer, stable and nutritious. It can also be defined as a method of controlling or eliminating pathogens found in foods to create safe and shelf-stable food. The concept of barrier technology is quite old, but is used by many countries around the world, including India, for effective food preservation. It advocates the clever use of different preservation factors or a combination of techniques called barriers, to achieve multi-targeted, mild but reliable preservation effects in foods.

Hurdle technology developed with the concept of offering more natural and fresh food to consumer demand. According to Leistner, barrier technology is the process of an intelligent combination of barriers that maintains microbial safety and storage stability and preserves the sensory, nutritional quality and economic viability of food materials. It has been produced in response to several customer requests and developments. These;

• To meet consumers’ demands for advanced foods that retain their unique nutritional properties with freshness.

• This technology makes food products ready-to-eat and ready-to-eat foods that require less processing by consumers.

• Basically, consumers prefer ‘natural food products’ that require less processing effort with minimal use of chemical preservatives.

It offers a framework for combining a range of lighter protection techniques to achieve an enhanced level of product safety with longer stability.

Engel technology can be applied in various fish and fishery products such as salted fish, smoked, marinated products, pickles, canned fish products (high or low temperature), traditional Asian sauces (fermentative microorganisms), and more recently in vacuum packaging. These protective factors were studied several years ago. Engel technology has some pros (by inhibiting microorganisms) as well as some disadvantages depending on their density (in other parameters such as nutritional properties or sensory quality). For example, the salt content in foods should be at a limit to inhibit pathogens and spoilage microorganisms, but not high enough to impair taste and act as pro-oxidants.

The Importance of Hurdle Technology

The importance of Hurdle technology in the past and today is indisputable. It is enough to know some of its benefits to understand its importance. These benefits are as follows;

• It improves the quality of foodstuffs and provides the microbial activity.

• Food remains safe and stable for longer.

• It has high sensory and nutritive value due to its barrier effects.

• Applicable in both small and large scale industries.

• Does not change the composition or integrity of foodstuffs.

• Meets the current consumer demand for fresh, natural and minimally processed foodstuffs.

• It is economically suitable for the country as it saves money, time, energy and other resources.

Public Health Importance of Hurdle Technology

The quality of fish and fishery products is a major concern for seafood processors, consumers and public health officials. The quality of fish deteriorates due to a complex process, primarily physical, chemical and microbiological forms of deterioration. However, some seafood is processed in a modern fish industry, which is a technologically advanced and complex industry, in line with other seafood industries and with the risk of contamination of the same products with pathogenic microorganisms. However, the greatest risk to human health comes from the consumption of spoiled fish, improperly processed, improperly preserved fish and fish products.

There are various fish preservation and processing methods applied in seafood processing, one of the most demanding technologies that ensure seafood safety. This technology ultimately improves public health from foodborne, seafood-borne pathogens, foodborne diseases.

Limitations of Hurdle Technology

Barriers used in seafood containment may provide varying degrees of microbial stress reactions, these stress reactions or cross-tolerance may not work when more than one barrier is used. There are three main possible outcomes when applying barriers technology for the preservation of seafood, these are;

• Adding or adding effect,

• Synergism or synergistic effect,

• Antagonism or antagonistic effect.