- Fish and Seafood

Fish and shellsh are highly perishable and their deterioration is primarily due to bacterial action (Skura, 1991; Colby et al., 1993). Fish has a relatively short shelf life (12 days) under refrigerated conditions, not displaying quality hazards in hygiene when properly packaged (Oetterer, 1999). There has been a recent interest in prolonging the shelf life of sh due to the increase in demand for fresh products, which has led to a greater variety of products being packaged under modied atmosphere (MA), in which air composition is altered or “modied” (Lioulas, 1988; Manju et al., 2007). Modied atmosphere packaging (MAP) and vacuum-packed (VP) systems can further improve the shelf life, organoleptic quality, and product range of seafood. Carbon dioxide, oxygen, and nitrogen are the common gases mostly used in MA systems (Metin et al., 2002), but some noble gases such as Arg have also been studied as a substitute of nitrogen (Gimenez et al., 2002). The factors that must be considered when determining the ideal gas concentration are (i) the gas-to-sh ratio, (ii) the sh species, (iii) the packaging method, (iv) initial microbial contamination, and (v) temperature. Low temperatures, for example, inhibit the growth of Clostridium 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 147 4.2 Fish Stored under MAP ................................................................................ 148 4.2.1 Fish Treated with a Combination of MAP and Other Technologies ..................................................................................... 151 4.2.2 Quality of Fish Stored under MAP ................................................... 159 4.2.3 Micro›ora of Fish Packed under MAP ............................................. 172 4.3 Crustaceans and Shellsh ............................................................................. 192 4.3.1 Crustaceans and Shellsh Stored under MAP ................................. 192 4.3.2 Micro›ora of Crustaceans and Shellsh Packed under MAP ..........204 4.3.3 Quality of Crustaceans and Shellsh Stored under MAP ................207 4.3.4 Crustaceans and Shellsh Treated with Combination of MAP and Other Technologies ................................ 214 4.4 Cephalopods ................................................................................................. 214 4.5 Conclusions ................................................................................................... 214 References .............................................................................................................. 216 botulinum because the packaging method prevents contamination and maintains the atmosphere, while a specic gas mixture retards the growth of spoilage bacteria (Stammen et al., 1990). The use of the MAP presents the following advantages: lengthening of the products’ shelf life, drop of economic losses, cost reductions by distributing the product over great distances because lesser shipments are required, and the supply of better quality products (Sivertsvik et al., 2002).