Optimizing liquid smoke conditions for the production and preservation of innovative fish products

Liquid smoke is a natural product made up of smoke concentrate which is used to impart a smoky flavour without resorting to the traditional smoking technique: it is practical to use, cheap, easy to dose, able to control the presence of undesirable substances and, above all, with reduced environmental impact, unlike traditional smoking systems. On the other hand, it has a low preservation effect. Thus, the objective of this study was to design the production of an innovative fish product using liquid smoke in combination with natural compounds through three subsequent phases: 1) economic concept evaluation to assess the acceptability of the proposed product through a qualitative and quantitative investigation; 2) optimisation of the process (individuation of smoking liquid composition and process parameters) using modelling predictive tools, i.e. tertiary and secondary models; 3) product realization and its evaluation in terms of microbiological profile, chemical-physical parameters, and consumers’ acceptability.