International Journal of Food Science and Nutrition

Authors
Mouna Boulares, Olfa Ben Moussa, Moncef Chouaibi, Sabrine El Adab, Salma Kammoun, Mnasser Hassouna

Abstract
This study aimed to study the effect of inoculation of Lactococcus lactis and Carnobacterium piscicola and/or Citrus essential oil (CEO) addition on vacuum-packed sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) fillets quality during 21 days of storage at 4°C. Throughout storage, both LAB and CEO preserved a high content of polyunsaturated w-3 fatty acids, prevented my of ibrillar proteins proteolysis and improved the textural properties of fish. Then, using an Accelerated Shelf Life Test (ASLT) the shelf life of fish fillets was estimated based on total viable count (TVC) and total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N). For these parameters, developed kinetic models served to determine the quality loss. Overall, the combined adjunction of LAB and CEO was an efficient tool resulting in sea bass fillets quality preservation and significant shelf life extension by approximately 3-5 days (control CEO), 4 days (control LAB) and 5 days (LAB+CEO).