Effects of different culture modes on the storage quality of tilapia ( Oreochromis mossambicus ) fillets at 4°C

Abstract Background With tilapia's increasing production and aquaculture modes' diversity, container culture's effect on fish storage quality remains unclear. Fish storage quality is related to different attributes such as organoleptic, microbiological, and physiochemical qualities. The alterations of the sensory, microbiological, and physiochemical quality of container and pond‐cultured tilapia stored at 4°C were studied to investigate the effect of container culture mode on the quality of tilapia during storage. Results During storage, the TVC of pond‐cultured tilapia was higher than container‐cultured tilapia at 3–5 days. On 3rd day, the K value was higher in pond‐cultured tilapia, while container‐cultured tilapia had significantly higher IMP content. By 5th day, pond‐cultured tilapia had higher pH, while container‐cultured tilapia had a lower redness–greenness value. On 9th day, HxR content was higher in pond‐cultured tilapia. Shewanella was the main spoilage microbe in pond‐cultured tilapia, while Pseudomonas dominated in container‐cultured tilapia. On 11th day, histamine content was significantly higher in pond‐cultured tilapia. Conclusions Results indicated that compared with pond‐cultured tilapia, container‐cultured tilapia performs better due to lower pH. The difference in microbial community composition between the two groups may be related to water quality. Overall, container culture is a potential method which is comparable to pond culture.