Study of chemical, microbial, sensory, freshness and shelf life of tilapia fillet (Oreochromis niloticus) packaged by aerobic, vacuum and modified atmosphere methods at refrigeration by Quality Index Method

The purpose of this study was to measure sensory, chemical, microbial, freshness and shelf life of packaged Tilapia fillets by vacuum and modified atmosphere methods compared to fillets packaged by aerobic method at refrigeration.

Treatments consisted of Tilapia fillets packaged by vacuum and modified atmosphere methods. The fillets packaged by aerobic method were as control samples.

TVB-N, PV, TBARS, total bacterial count, Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas bacteria, sensory parameters and freshness showed significant differences in experimental and control treatments (P<0.05). The studied factors did not show significant difference in modified atmosphere treatments compared to vacuum treatments (p> 0.05). Coliform, Escherichia coli and anaerobic bacteria were not observed in experimental and control treatments. Sensory evaluation and frshness were better in modified atmosphere treatment compared to vacuum treatment (p> 0.05). Chemical, microbial, sensory factors and freshness had significantly different in the experimental treatments compared to the control sample (p<0.05). The experimental and control treatments had good quality during 14 and 6 days at refrigeration.

Considering the absence of significant differences in microbial and chemical quality of experimental treatments and higher sensory evaluation and freshness of modified atmosphere treatment compared to other treatments, modified atmosphere packaging method is recommended for packing Tilapia fish fillet at refrigerator temperature.