Comparison of Quality Attributes of Ohmic and Water Immersion Thawed Shrimp

Thawing is an important operation in seafood processing. Conventional water immersion thawing has disadvantages of long thawing times, potential of cross-contamination, outer regions prolonged exposure to warm temperatures, use of large amounts of water, and generation of large amounts of wastewater. Ohmic thawing has been demonstrated to thaw blocks of shrimp in comparable times. Proper control of the operation eliminates local overheating. Ohmic thawing was reported to be economically advantageous. In this study, the sensory, microbial and quality attributes of ohmically and conventionally thawed shrimp were compared. Moisture content of large shrimp was not significantly different when ohmically or conventionally thawed. Small shrimp had higher moisture content when conventionally thawed. Total aerobic microbial plate counts were not significantly different. Sensory tests showed that there was not a significant difference between conventionally and ohmically thawed shrimp. These results suggest that ohmic thawing can be used to thaw frozen shrimp blocks.