Introduction:

Sardine (Sardinha pilchardus) is pelagic specie, from Clupeidae family, being one of the most abundant fishes all over the world. The term "quality" in fish refers to the index of freshness evaluation in accordance to the Regulation (EC) No. 2406/96 of November 26th, namely the esthetical appearance, freshness and degree of deterioration that the fish had suffered.

Objective:

To evaluate the freshness index, hygienic quality and bromatological composition of sardines in different commercial shops in Beja, Alentejo.

Methods:

Four different lots of Sardinha pilchardus were evaluated from the four commercial shops (20 sardines/lots), and classification was made of the category of each of the lots was carried out by the Reg. (EC) No. 2406/96 tables. Physical-chemical analysis was made: determination of Total Volatile Basic Nitrogen (TVB-N), refractive index of vitreous humor (RI), pH, colour, texture, bromatological analysis, and microbiological analysis.

Results:

TVB-N values for the different samples was lower than 14 mg/100g, as mentioned in Reg. (EC) No 1022/2008 it should be lower than 20 to 30mg/100g, and therefore the 4 samples respected that criteria. Microbiological analysis showed that the samples were within the acceptable values. The sardines presented average nutritional values of 161 Kcal/100g, which are lower than reference values from INSA (2007) nutritional table, eventually due to the low fat content by this time of the year (Spring).

Conclusion:

The sardines showed freshness categories of Extra and A, and hence emphasized a satisfactory state for consumption. The most expounding analyzes for the determination of freshness were the TVB-N, the instrumental texture and the Refraction Index.

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