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Quantitative assessment of total and Gram-positive aerobic bacteria in fresh and ambient-temperature-stored sub-tropical marine fish

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Abstract

The current study was undertaken to enumerate Gram-positive bacteria in fresh sub-tropical marine fish and determine the effect of ambient storage (25°C) on the Gram-positive bacterial count. Total and Gram-positive bacteria were enumerated in the muscles, gills and gut of fresh and stored Pseudocaranx dentex, Pagrus auratus and Mugil cephalus on tryptone soya agar (TSA) and TSA with 0.25% phenylethyl alcohol (PEA), respectively. Initial studies indicated that PEA significantly reduced total aerobic bacterial count (TABC) whereas control Gram-positive bacteria were not affected by 0.25% PEA. TABC significantly increased in all fish body parts, whereas Gram-positive aerobic bacterial count (GABC) significantly increased only in the muscles and gills during ambient storage for 15 h. The TABC of the fish species increased from 4.00, 6.13 and 4.58 log cfu g−1, respectively in the muscles, gills, and gut to 6.31, 7.31 and 7.23 log cfu g−1 by the end of storage. GABC increased from 2.00, 3.52 and 2.20 log cfu g−1 to 4.70, 5.85 and 3.36 log cfu g−1. Within each species, TABC were significantly higher in the gills compared to that of muscles and gut; however, no significant differences were found in GABC between muscles and gills. This study demonstrated the potential importance of Gram-positive bacteria in sub-tropical marine fish and their spoilage.

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Acknowledgement

The authors thank Joy Miguel for her technical assistance with microbiological techniques and Delma Greenway for her assistances in analyzing the data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Land, Crop and Food Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Ismail M. Al Bulushi & Hilton C. Deeth

  2. Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Hamilton, QLD, 4007, Australia

    Susan Poole

  3. Food Science Australia, P.O. Box 3312, Tingalpa DC, QLD, 4173, Australia

    Gary A. Dykes

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  1. Ismail M. Al Bulushi
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  3. Hilton C. Deeth
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Correspondence to Ismail M. Al Bulushi.

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Al Bulushi, I.M., Poole, S., Deeth, H.C. et al. Quantitative assessment of total and Gram-positive aerobic bacteria in fresh and ambient-temperature-stored sub-tropical marine fish. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 24, 1867–1875 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-008-9687-5

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