Evaluation of Different Techniques, including Modified Atmosphere, under Vacuum Packaging, Washing, and Latilactobacillus sakei as a Bioprotective Agent, to Increase the Shelf-Life of Fresh Gutted Sea Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and Sea Bream (Sparus aurata) Stored at 6 ± 2 °C

Abstract

Fish meat is very perishable because of indigenous and microbial enzymes, which determine spoilage and shelf life. The deterioration processes, which lead to an important, sequential, and progressive modification of the initial state of freshness, are fast and depend on rearing, harvesting, slaughtering, handling, and storage conditions. Usually, the shelf life of gutted fish stored at 4 ± 2 °C under vacuum packaging (VP—1.0 bar) and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP, 70% N2, <1% O2, 30% CO2) is approximately 9 days. The aim of this work was to improve the shelf life and preserve the microbiological and sensory quality of farmed gutted sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and sea bream (Sparus aurata) using different methods, including VP, MAP, and bioprotective culture containing Latilactobacillus sakei, until 12–14 days. Microbiological, physicochemical, and sensory quality indices were monitored to confirm the effectiveness of biopreservation on product quality during proper refrigeration (4 ± 2 °C) or abuse (6 ± 2 °C, simulating supermarkets and consumer fridges) storage period. Considering the quality indexes represented by Enterobacteriaceae, total volatile nitrogen (TVB-N), and malonaldehyde concentrations (TBARS) and the sensorial analysis, the VP samples were more acceptable than the MAP fish, even though the shelf-life of the VP and MAP fish was similar at about 12 days. The second phase of the work was to evaluate the shelf-life of both VP fish stored at 6 ± 2 °C, which simulates the normal abuse temperature of supermarkets or consumer fridges. Data confirmed the previous results and demonstrated, despite the abuse temperature of storage, a shelf-life of about 12 days. Finally, the third phase consisted of prolonging the shelf life until 14 days of storage at 6 ± 2 °C by washing the gutted sea bass and sea bream in a suspension of bioprotective starter (7 log CFU/mL) with or without the addition of dextrose (0.1%) and by VP packaging. The bioprotective culture reduced the growth of spoilage microorganisms. Consequently, the total volatile nitrogen (TVB-N) concentration in both fish species was low (<35 mg N/100 g). Nonprofessional and untrained evaluators confirmed the acceptability of the inoculated samples by sensorial analysis.

Application of fuzzy model for the shelf-life determination of whole sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) under refrigerated temperatures

“…Ucar et al 26 reported the Enterobacteriaceae counts of sea bass fillets stored under cold conditions as 5.26 log cfu/g on day 6, Kritikos et al 27 reported the Enterobacteriaceae counts of MAP-treated sea bass fillets stored under chilled conditions to be < 4. 6 log cfu/g, and Iacumin et al 28 reported the Enterobacteriaceae counts of gutted vacuum and MAP treated sea bass kept at cooled conditions to be 4.0±0.7 and 4.5±0.8 log cfu/g on the 12th day of storage, respectively. In this context, the numbers of Enterobacteriaceae family members of sea bass stored aerobically under refrigerator conditions are similar to other studies.…”

Microbial and Physico-Chemical Characterization of Cold Smoked Sea Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), a New Product of Fishery

“…LAB are known to produce organic acids, mainly lactic acid and ethanol, as fermentation end products [60], but they can also produce nitrogen and sulfur compounds responsible for spoilage [61]. Despite their predominance in CSF, the roles of LAB in spoilage are not as clear as many authors have shown; in fact, there is no correlation between shelf life and LAB count or any other bacterial number [25]. A high LAB load is not often correlated with spoilage [57].…”

The Impact of Thyme, Rosemary and Basil Extracts on the Chemical, Sensory and Microbiological Quality of Vacuumed Packed Mackerel Balls

“…Microorganisms, spoilage, and pathogenic by-products of lipid oxidation generate products responsible for fish spoilage and are responsible for food borne illness [ 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Considering the importance of oxygen in inducing oxidation of lipids [ 6 , 7 ], vacuum packaging technology is constantly being integrated with other technologies for the preservation of foods [ 9 ]. Furthermore, considering the highly perishable nature of fish and fishery products, the wide range of preservatives (antioxidants and antimicrobials) from synthetic sources are used for the preservation of aquatic food products [ 6 ].…”