Effect of vacuum packaging on microbial and sensory quality indicators of cold-smoked freshwater fish

Milan Milijašević; Vesna Đorđević; Aleksandra Nikolić; Vesna Janković; Jelena Babić-Milijašević

doi:10.18485/meattech.2024.65.2.2

Milan Milijašević Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4269-236X
Vesna Đorđević Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology, Kaćanskog 13, 11 000 Belgrade, Serbia https://orcid.org/0009-0008-5187-4089
Aleksandra Nikolić Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology, Kaćanskog 13, 11 000 Belgrade, Serbia
Vesna Janković Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5388-9593
Jelena Babić-Milijašević Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18485/meattech.2024.65.2.2

Keywords: Common carp (Cyprinus carpio), bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis), shelf life, aerobic plate count, Lactic acid bacteria

Abstract

The aim of this research was to monitor the effect of vacuum packaging on selected microbial and sensory parameters of cold-smoked common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and cold-smoked bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) fillets stored at 3±0.5 ℃, and to determine the shelf-life of the products. Fillets were analysed on days 1, 7, 10,12, 14, 15 and 16. The APCs were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in common carp than in bighead carp from storage day 12. At the end of study, the APC in both species of fish had not reached 7 logcfu/g. No significant differences (p ˃ 0.05) were determined between the PBCs in common carp and bighead carp during the whole period of storage. In cold-smoked bighead carp, the lactobacilli group was dominant at the end of the storage period. According to sensory assessment, it was concluded that vacuum-packaged cold-smoked common carp remained acceptable for up to 15 days of storage, while vacuum-packaged cold-smoked bighead carp remained unchanged until the end of the study (16 days).