The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a new smoking-salting method employing water
vapour permeable (WP) bags on the physicochemical and microbial quality of smoke-flavoured salmon
in refrigerated storage. Fresh salmon was subjected to a smoking process in the WP at 5 C. Physicochemical
and microbiological analyses were periodically carried out during the subsequent 40 days of
refrigerated storage of the product. The WP bags enabled the evaporation of the exudate during the
smoking-salting stage, enabling the drying of the product to take place at the same time. A slight increase
of trimethylamine nitrogen (TMA-N) and total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) contents was observed
over the storage period. The concentration of TVB-N ranged from 14.26 to 21.48 mg N/100 g of fish,
values far below the upper limits of acceptability. The low values of the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) index
(final level of 0.71 mg MDA/kg) indicate that the lipid oxidation in the smoke-flavoured salmon was
limited throughout the period studied. The initial K1-value was high and only a slight increase was
observed during storage. Counts of mesophilic, psychrotrophic, Enterobacteriaceae and lactic acid bacteria
were low throughout the study. Given the changes observed for the physicochemical and microbiological
parameters, it can be said that no spoilage took place in the smoke-flavoured salmon during
the 40 days of storage. This new method could be of interest to producers as it enables smoke-flavoured
salmon to be produced to a good standard of hygiene, minimizing handling and reducing processing
steps and brine wastes