COMPARATIVE EFFECTS OF LACTIC ACID, NISIN, COATING COMBINED AND ALONE APPLICATIONS ON SOME POSTMORTEM QUALITY CRITERIA OF REFRIGERATED <i>SARDINA PILCHARDUS</i>

Abstract

ABSTRACT Fish meat is highly prone to microbiological contamination from hunting and slaughtering stages to the transportation and kitchen, especially by Pseudomonas spp. In this study, effects of nisin (0.04 g/L/kg at pH 5.2), lactic acid (5% at pH 2.9) and their combinations were studied on coated (where vegetable oil, beeswax and distilled water mixture with pH 7.2 was used as the main coating material) and noncoated fish specimens on inhibition of Pseudomonas and mesophilic aerobic bacteria (MAB) at refrigeration temperatures ( + 4C). Lactic acid, nisin and coating reached 5.95 log units as cfu/mL on total MAB on the seventh day of shelf life at + 4C, whereas control has reached 6.62 log on the fifth day. Lactic acid, nisin and coating, and lactic acid and coating applications were determined as the most preservative applications with lowest acidity losses and highest bacterial inhibition, including Pseudomonas spp. ( P &lt; 0.01).