QUALITY CHANGES IN ICE-STORED TROPICAL WIRE-NETTING REEF COD (EPINEPHELUS MERRA)

The sensory, bacteriological and biochemical qualities of tropical wire‐netting reef cod (Epinephelus merra) stored in melting ice were studied. The total bacterial load in immediately iced (II) fish was 10 ⁶ cfu /g on the 17th day of storage. The histamine formers were 10 ¹ cfu /g on the initial day, whereas the total lactics was 10 ¹ cfu /g on the third day. The total coliforms decreased from MPN 35 to 0 per gram, while the anaerobic sulfite reducers did not exhibit any consistent trend. The fish delayed for 6 h before icing or delayed iced (DI) fish exhibited bacterial loads of 10 ⁶ cfu /g on the third day, while the total lactics ranged from 10 ¹to 10 ² cfu /g and the histamine formers ranged from 10 ²to 10 ⁴ cfu /g. The total coliforms declined and the anaerobic sulfite reducers increased over a period of 5 days. The pH and hypoxanthine increased during the storage. Both the total volatile base nitrogen and trimethylamine nitrogen attained the maximum limit of acceptability at the end of the storage. The fatty acid content was 0.17% as oleic acid even on the 17th day in II fish. The II fish exhibited a longer shelf life (17 days) when compared to the shorter shelf life (3 days) exhibited by the DI fish.