Lt. Hansen et al., IMPORTANCE OF AUTOLYSIS AND MICROBIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY ON QUALITY OF COLD-SMOKED SALMON, Food research international, 29(2), 1996, pp. 181-188
The relative importance of autolysis and microbiological activity on s
poilage of cold-smoked salmon and the origin of the chemical compounds
hypoxanthine, acetic acid, trimethylamine and total volatile bases we
re studied in a storage experiment of dry salted and injection-brined,
vacuum-packed salmon with normal and reduced loads of microorganisms.
Comparative studies of cold-smoked salmon with a reduced and normal l
oad of microorganisms showed that microbiological activity caused prod
uction of the characteristic spoilage odours and flavours, while the a
utolytic enzymes from the fish tissue had major impact on the textural
deterioration. Total volatile bases and hypoxanthine were produced in
significantly higher levels in salmon with a normal bacterial load. S
ixty-eight per cent of the hypoxanthine found in stored samples origin
ated from microbiological conversion of inosine to hypoxanthine. The c
oncentration of acetic acid only increased in samples with a normal lo
ad. At the onset of spoilage, the microflora in dry salted salmon was
dominated by marine vibrio in contrast to the injection brined product
where a mixture of Enterobacteriaceae and lactic acid bacteria were p
revalent. The different ratios of hypoxanthine produced to trimethylam
ine also suggested that spoilage of salmon salted by the two methods w
as caused by different microorganisms. Copyright (C) 1996 Published by
Elsevier Science Ltd on behalf of the Canadian Institute of Food Scie
nce and Technology