EFFECT OF PROCESSING ON BACTERIAL POPULATION OF CUTTLE FISH AND CRAB AND DETERMINATION OF BACTERIAL SPOILAGE AND RANCIDITY DEVELOPING ON FROZEN STORAGE

Processing techniques like cooking and freezing exhibited significant (P < 0.001) reduction in the bacterial load of cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis, and marine crab, Portunus pelagicus. Raw cuttle fish had 2.4 × 10⁷ cfu/g which on cooking reduced to 9.7 × 10⁶ cfu/g. Freezing reduced the bacterial load further as cooked frozen product had only 9.9 × 10⁴ cfu/g. Similarly, raw crab had 2.6 × 10⁷ cfu/g which on cooking reduced to 6.5 × 10⁶ cfu/g. A further reduction in bacterial load was seen after freezing as cooked frozen crab exhibited only 7.3 × 10⁴ cfu/g. Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were present in the limit of acceptability for fish and fish products. Salmonella typhimurium and Vibrio cholerae were absent even in raw stage. Biochemical analysis performed on stored frozen products of cuttle fish and crab exhibited a significant (P ≤ 0.05) increase in bacterial spoilage and rancidity with increasing days of storage. Total volatile base nitrogen, trimethylamine, thiobarbituric acid and free fatty acid contents in frozen products of cuttle fish and crab increased significantly with 120 days of frozen storage.