Effect of the Fumigating with Essential Oils on the Microbiological Characteristics and Quality Changes of Refrigerated Turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) Fillets

• Published in: Food and bioprocess technology Vol. 8; no. 4; pp. 844 - 853
• Main Authors: Cai, Luyun, Cao, Ailing, Li, Tingting, Wu, Xiaosa, Xu, Yongxia, Li, Jianrong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer-Verlag 01.04.2015; Springer US; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acids; Agriculture; anti-infective properties; Antimicrobial activity; Bacteria; Biodegradation; bioprocessing; Biotechnology; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chemistry/Food Science; clove oil; Color; cumin; Enterobacteriaceae; Essential oils; Evaluation; Fillets; Food Science; Fumigation; Lactic acid; Lactic acid bacteria; Lipids; Mentha spicata; Microorganisms; Nitrogen; Oils & fats; Original Paper; Oxidation; Peroxide; peroxide value; Preservation; Scophthalmus maximus; Shewanella putrefaciens; spearmint oil; Texture; Thiobarbituric acid; total volatile basic nitrogen; Trimethylamine; Trimethylamine nitrogen; turbot; Quality change; Essential oil; Microbiological control; Fumigation; Turbot
• ISSN: 1935-5130; 1935-5149
• DOI: 10.1007/s11947-014-1453-0

Antimicrobial activity of essential oils is widely known, but their application to fish preservation is already limited. The objective was to evaluate the microbiological characteristics and quality changes in turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) fillets with essential oil fumigation treatments over 20 days stored at 2 ± 1 °C. The turbot fillets were fumigated with a series of concentrations (1, 4, and 8 μL/L) of essential oils of clove, cumin, and spearmint. Changes in the color, texture profile analysis (TPA), peroxide value (PV), 2-thiobarbituric acid (TBA), total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N), trimethylamine nitrogen (TMA-N), microbial characteristics (total viable count, psychrotrophic count, pseudomonads, Shewanella putrefaciens, Enterobacteriaceae, and lactic acid bacteria count) were measured. The results showed the turbot fillets from the control group were the first (day 10) to indicate signs of degradation reaching rejection threshold values for all evaluated parameters. All essential oils could inhibit the oxidation of turbot fillets, and the most effective essential oil was spearmint oil. Fumigated with 4 μL/L spearmint oil maintained the color and texture, retarded the lipid and protein oxidation, and reduced the microorganism counts. Therefore, post-mortem essential oil fumigation treatment has positive effects on improving the quality of refrigerated turbot fillets.