The use of wood shavings as an alternative fuel wood in fish smoking

Abstract

The study was conducted to investigate the use of wood shavings as an alternative source of energy for smoking fish. Fifteen kilograms of live mud fish, Clarias sp. were prepared into three equal portions of 5.0kg each and smoked between temperatures of 90-110 0C to constant weight using fuel wood and wood shavings. Analysis of the mean hedonic scores for appearance, flavor, texture, taste, and overall acceptability showed no significant difference (P > 0.05) among samples. Proximate analysis revealed higher crude protein value (61.25%) in wood shavings smoked fish and (53.38%) in fuel wood smoked fish. The Gross Margin analysis showed that wood shavings have the least cost combination. Since the wood shavings smoked fish is organoleptically acceptable, it is recommended that, wood shavings should be used as a source of energy for smoking fish as it is more economical to use than fuel wood.