Bacterial Growth and Histamine Production on Vacuum Packaged Tuna

Abstract

ABSTRACT Vacuum and nonvacuum packaged samples of tuna or tuna spiked with Klebsiella oxytoca T 2 , Morganella morganii JM or Hafnia alvei T 8 were stored at 2°C and 10°C and examined for bacterial growth and histamine production on day 3, 6, 10 and 15. Unlike those stored at 2°C, tuna samples stored at 100°C showed significant bacterial growth over time and had high levels of histamine (>200 mg/100g tuna on day 15). Vacuum packaging did not show any beneficial effect in controlling bacterial growth and histamine production on tuna samples at these two temperatures. Low temperature storage was more effective than vacuum packaging in controlling histamine production by the bacteria tested.