RESIDUAL EFFECT OF A CO2 PRETREATMENT IN EXTENDING THE SHELF-LIFE OF VACUUM-PACKED CHILLED MULLETS

Two experiments were conducted to ascertain whether pre-treating fresh mullets under CO2 could extend their shelf-life when they were vacuum -packed and stored at 4 +/- 1-degrees-C. In each experiment, samples o f vacuum-packed mullets without any pre-treatment were used as control s. With respect to the microbiological status of the samples, 22 and 2 4 hours of pre-treatment under CO2 allowed fish preservation time to b e practically doubled. Furthermore, the protective effect of CO2 allow ed mullets to be maintained in very good condition for about half the storage period considered. The behavior of Enterobacteriaceae, Aeromon as hydrophila, sulphite-reducing clostridia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa an d lactic bacteria is also discussed. Sensory assessments on both raw a nd cooked mullets were in agreement with microbiological data.