Analysis of Alternative Shelf Life-Extending Protocols and Their Effect on the Preservation of Seafood Products

Abstract

Seafood is essential to a healthy and varied diet due to its highly nutritious characteristics. However, seafood products are highly perishable, which results in financial losses and quality concerns for consumers and the industry. Due to changes in consumer concerns, demand for healthy products has increased. New trends focusing on reducing synthetic preservatives require innovation and the application of additional or alternative strategies to extend the shelf life of this type of product. Currently, refrigeration and freezing storage are the most common methods for fish preservation. However, refrigeration alone cannot provide long shelf-life periods for fish, and freezing worsens sensorial characteristics and consumer interest. Therefore, the need to preserve seafood for long periods without exposing it to freezing temperatures exists. This review focuses on the application of other approaches to seafood products, such as biodegradable films and coating technology; superchilling; irradiation; high-pressure processing; hyperbaric storage; and biopreservation with lactic acid bacteria, bacteriocins, or bacteriophages. The efficiency of these techniques is discussed based on their impact on microbiological quality, sensorial degradation, and overall preservation of the product’s nutritional properties. Although these techniques are already known, their use in the industrial processing of seafood is not widespread. Thus, the novelty of this review is the aggregation of recent studies on shelf life extension approaches, which provide useful information for the selection of the most appropriate technology and procedures and industrial innovation. Despite the fact that all techniques inhibit or delay bacterial proliferation and product decay, an undesirable sensory impact may occur depending on the treatment conditions. Although no technique appears to replace refrigeration, the implementation of additional treatments in the seafood processing operation could reduce the need for freezing, extending the shelf life of fresh unfrozen products.

Effect of Different Cold Storage Temperatures on the Evolution of Shucking Yield and Quality Properties of Offshore Cultured Japanese Oyster (Magallana gigas) Treated by High Pressure Processing (HPP)

“…This pressure-mediated change in L*, related to an increase in the opacity and whiteness, has been described by other authors for conventionally farmed oysters of different species [ 20 , 21 , 25 , 28 ]. It is essentially caused due to pigment alteration and protein denaturation/coagulation, which gives the product a cooked appearance [ 10 , 11 , 25 ]. In any case, the HPP treatments used for oyster shucking (<400 MPa) have less impact on color than heat treatments [ 21 , 28 ].…”

“…This value is slightly high but falls within the normal range published in the literature for fresh coastal farming oysters [ 18 , 24 , 26 , 27 ]. HPP is capable of inactivating vegetative microorganisms in food by denaturing proteins and enzymes, destabilizing cell walls and membranes and impacting DNA and ribosomal activity [ 10 , 11 ]. All HPP treatments tested (225–300 MPa for 2 min) significantly reduced APC by around 0.5–1 log cycle ( p < 0.05), with values ranging from 2.84 to 3.07 log cycles.…”

“…This is in agreement with the literature [ 21 , 25 ]. As explained above, the changes in pigments and proteins are mainly responsible for the increase in L* [ 10 , 11 , 25 ]. For both oysters stored at 4 and 10 °C, a* and b* values did not differ significantly ( p ≥ 0.05) between control and HPP oysters (300 MPa) for each storage time (0, 2, 5, 9 and 14 days).…”

“…High pressure processing (HPP) is an emerging technology that has gained interest in the seafood sector in the last two decades due to its broad range of applications, such as increasing shelf life of fresh and prepared meals, reducing allergenicity or reducing thawing losses [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. It is an isostatic and adiabatic process that basically consists of pressurizing the food up to 800 MPa for a maximum of several minutes, keeping the temperature low throughout the process (typically < 25 °C), thus avoiding heat-mediated modification of food properties [ 11 ].…”

Biotechnology Approaches in Food Preservation and Food Safety

“…Pinto de Rezende et al [4], from the same institution, presented a literature review on techniques to preserve shellfish as an alternative to refrigeration, focusing on the application of biodegradable films and coating technology; superchilling; irradiation; high-pressure processing; hyperbaric storage; and biopreservation with lactic acid bacteria, bacteriocins, or bacteriophages. According to the authors, "although no technique appears to replace refrigeration, the implementation of additional treatments in the seafood processing operation could reduce the need for freezing, extending the shelf life of fresh unfrozen products".…”