Effects of <scp>HVEF</scp> treatment on the physicochemical properties and bacterial communities of <i>Larimichthys crocea</i> fillets during refrigerated storage

Abstract

Summary This study investigated the effects of a high voltage electrostatic field (HVEF) on the physicochemical properties and bacterial communities of Larimichthys crocea ( L. crocea ) fillets. HVEF‐treated samples (5, 10 and 15 kV/m) and control samples (0 kV/m) were stored at −1 ± 0.5 °C for 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 days. Compared with the control group, the HVEF‐treated groups (10 and 15 kV/m) had less muscle fibre damage and better tissue structures. In addition, HVEF treatment delayed the decrease in springiness and hardness, improved the quality of fish during refrigerated storage and effectively extended the shelf‐life of L. crocea fillets. The HVEF‐treated groups had a considerably lower total viable count (TVC) than the control group. Furthermore, high‐throughput sequencing revealed that HVEF treatment reduced the relative abundance of Shewanella by 21.48% at 8th day, implying that spoilage bacteria growth was inhibited. The results indicated that HVEF treatment could be used as a new technology in the fish processing industry to delay L. crocea fillet deterioration.