Abstract

*Hassan Hadi Mehdi AL- Rubaiy, Khalid Hassak Abdul Hassan and Mohammad Zyarah Eskandder

ABSTRACT

Different types of fish, such as sardines, Hamour, noebi, fsikh, carp, and other kinds, were salted and dried by different drying methods such as natural sun drying, drying by vacuum solar dryer, drying by electric ovens and by using a microwave oven, In different regions of the world. The studies indicated that the drying efficiency was varied with the different drying methods in terms of drying rate and storage period of dried fish and its effect on the organoleptic, chemical and microbial indices. In general, all the drying methods used to drying fish gave a high efficiency except natural sun drying. Even though different methods were used to dry the salted fish, the percentages of chemical composition and indices were close. As for the microbial indices, the microwave drying efficiency exceeded compared with all the drying methods. The natural sun drying method gave less efficiency in eliminating microbes, and it also differed whether the fish was salted or unsalted, and this affected the storage periods. The different methods in drying and salting fish were affected by the rate of dehydration, which led to a variation in the percentage.