Title: The effect of smoking methods on the quality of smoked mackerel

Atlantic mackerel was smoked with commercial liquid smoked flavourings and wood smoke. After smoking, the mackerels were vacuum packed and stored chilled at -1 C for one week, then increased to 4-5 C for three weeks. The quality changes in sensory attributes (odour, flavour), physical properties (colour, texture), microbial (total plate counts), and chemical properties (total lipid, peroxide value (PV), thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS), free fatty acids (FFA)) were observed after 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks of the chilled storage. Smoked mackerel using commercial liquid smoked flavourings was higher in rancid flavour, lightness, redness, and yellowness but had less bitter odour and was softer than the wood smoked mackerel. Further, the number of bacteria was lower in liquid smoke product after smoking but grew fast during chilled storage. The lipid oxidation was higher after the wood smoke process, but was rather stable during chilled storage. In contrast, lipid oxidation in the liquid smoke products increased during chilled storage. The shelf life of liquid smoked mackerel (2.6 % salt content, aw = 0.98) was determined to be three weeks, but wood smoked mackerel (2.6% salt content, aw = 0.98) was at least four weeks.