89A-10

L. S. ANDREWS¹, S. Bosarge², E. Baudouin³, B. Posadas², and S. Elder⁴. (1) Coastal Research and Extension Center, Mississippi State Univ., Experimental Seafood Processing Lab., 1815 Popps Ferry Rd., Mailstop 9385, Biloxi, MS 39532, (2) Coastal Research & Extension Center, Mississippi State Univ., Experimental Seafood Processing Lab., 1815 Popps Ferry Rd., Mailstop 9385, Biloxi, MS 39567, (3) Coastal Research and Extension Center, 3411 Fredric St., Pascagoula, MS, MS, (4) Ag and Biological Engineering, Mississippi State Univ., Starkville, MS 39762

Chitosan is purported to have many potential uses including food preservation. Limited information is available on the ability of chitosan to enhance the keeping quality of fish fillets. The objective of this study was to determine shelf life of catfish fillets dipped in organic acid solutions with/without added chitosan. Fillets of catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, were divided into 25 to 30 g. pieces, placed into sterile cheesecloth and dipped into a variety of organic acids with and without added chitosan. Fillets were then stored on ice in sterile polyethelene bags. Dipping solutions included 2% lactic acid, 2% sodium lactate, 2% citric acid, 2 % acetic acid all with and without added chitosan at 0.1 and 0.5 %. The chitosan used in these experiments was produced from shrimp shells at the MSU Seafood Processing Laboratory. The viscosity averaged a high molecular weight of 9.4-10.5 x 106 Daltons. Through 4 experimental trials, aerobic (APC) (350C) and psychrotrophic (PPC) (50C) plate counts were enumerated over 19 d. ice storage. The APC's of control samples and those treated with sodium lactate reached spoilage by day 10, while all citric acid dips reached spoilage by 19 d. In fillets treated with lactic acid and acetic acid solutions, with and without chitosan, APC were constant through 14 days storage and the fillets were of good quality through 19 days of storage. The PPC maintained static levels in all samples except the control, sodium lactate, and citrate treated samples. Most chitosan added dips did not provide additional shelf-life over the organic acids alone. Results of this study indicated that organic acids with or without chitosan have good preservation ability for fresh catfish fillets stored on ice.

Session 89A, Aquatic Food Products: General
2:00 PM - 5:30 PM, Tuesday PM Room Hall I-2

2005 IFT Annual Meeting, July 15-20 - New Orleans, Louisiana