Background Fish maw is a dried, nutrient-rich product made from fish swim bladders. The industry currently faces problems such as low rehydration and puffing efficiency, incomplete deodorization, inconsistent processing standards, and pronounced fluctuations in product quality, while adulteration and the practice of passing off inferior products as superior ones are not uncommon in the market.

Objective This review systematically summarizes research progress in the rehydration and puffing pretreatment, deodorization, and species identification of fish maw, and compares the advantages and limitations of various soaking, deodorization, and identification techniques, aiming to provide a reference for the standardized, industrialized production of fish maw and for market inspection and regulation.

Progress Existing studies show that, although various novel soaking and deodorization technologies have been proven to improve the quality of fish maw products, most remain at the single-process laboratory scale and have not yet formed complete industrial processing solutions. Likewise, although species identification has developed multiple precise approaches, such as molecular and flavor-based methods, their widespread application is constrained by high costs and operational thresholds, and the market still lacks efficient and broadly applicable standardized identification methods.

Outlook By optimizing processing technologies, the quality stability and production efficiency of fish maw products can be improved and production costs reduced, which will facilitate the standardization and industrialization of the fish maw industry. Meanwhile, efficient and standardized species identification will promote the improvement of the market supervision system. These advances will in turn expand the application of fish maw products in the food and health product sectors, drive the upgrading and growth of the industry as a whole, and strengthen China's competitiveness in the seafood tonic.