Extending the Shelf Life of Tilapia Mince by Zinc Oxide Nanoparticle – A Precursor of Value-Added Fishery Product

Zinc deficiency is associated with impaired growth, poor immune function and also adverse pregnancy outcomes. The main strategies to alleviate mineral deficiencies are food diversification, food fortification or supplementation. Recently, there is a growing interest on the metal oxide nano-particles owing to its various aspects such as bactericidal agents, destruction of carcinogenic cells and drug delivery applications. Fortification of zinc can be done with Zinc oxide (ZnO), currently listed as a generally recognized as safe (GRAS) material by the Food and Drug Administration. Due to the high antibacterial activity, chemical stability and solubility, nano-ZnO shows great interests in the application in fields of food additives, packing and agriculture, and biomedicine. The minced fish technology minimizes wastes, efficiently uses existing resources, helps in production of new versatile and nutritious foods and provides economic advantage to both the producer and consumer. Minced meat is used as a raw material for preparation of number of value-added products such as fish sausage, cakes, cutlets, patties, balls, pastes, texturized products, etc. Tilapia, an economically important food fish, is hardy and easy-to-grow, white-fleshed, mild-flavored and soothing palatability, thus regarded as a successful farmed fish and raw material of fish mince and subsequently surimi. During frozen or refrigerated storage, fish mince undergoes degradation; significant deterioration of sensory quality and loss of nutritional value have been detected as a result of changes in the protein and lipid fractions, formation of amines (volatile and biogenic) and hypoxanthine and changes in the physical properties of the muscle. The use of Zinc nanoparticles may be an efficient way of extending shelf life and food safety through the inhibition of spoilage and pathogenic bacteria without altering the nutritional quality of raw materials and food products due to broad-spectrum antibacterial activity of ZnO Np against pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella enteritidis, Salmonella typhimurium, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Campylobacter jejuni, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Listeria monocytogenes. Thus, after reviewing a wide range of literatures, it can be projected that development of low-cost Zn Nano-particle fortified value-added fish product is the ultimate future to eradicate zinc deficiency and can be rational kick start to alleviate protein as well as zinc malnutrition.