Freezing and storage on aquatic food: underlying mechanisms and implications on quality deterioration

Abstract Fresh aquatic products have high nutritional value, but they are easily susceptible to spoilage. Freezing as an effective preservation method could better retain the quality and safety of aquatic products. However, mechanical damage caused by ice crystals and the oxidation of proteins and lipids would inevitably bring about a reduction in the quality of the frozen product during freezing and preservation. This work summarized the important factors that affected the quality of frozen aquatic products, revealed the mechanism of deterioration of frozen aquatic products on the quality through sensory evaluation and changes in physiochemical indicators. In the context of high-quality development, some improvements in frozen fish preservation were proposed to provide theoretical basis and solutions to improve the quality and efficiency of fish processing.