Canning and Fish Packaging Technology

Unit 6 - Canning of commercially important fishes and shellfishes

6.2.5.Canning of Cephalopods
For canning of cephalopods like squids, very fresh raw material is required. Freshness of squid can be judged by its characteristic odour and the colour of the mantle. Squids which have lost its freshness will have light pink colour on its mantle i.e. after removal of skin and washing. Such squids are not suitable for canning. Squids are then graded for size and quality. The raw material is then dressed by removing the head, tentacles, viscera and skin. The mantles thus obtained are washed thoroughly to remove slime and other adhering impurities. The washed mantles are either cut into rings of about 1 to 1.5 cm width or as strips of 2 x 4 cm. The cut and prepared raw material is blanched in boiling salt brine for about 5 minutes, cooled under a current of air, packed into cans, filled with brine containing small amounts of monosodium glutamate and 0.2% citric acid. For the preparation of masala pack, the blanched and dried squids are fried in oil and further processed as the case of canning of clams in masala.