The Effect of Organic Acid, Trisodium Phosphate and Essential Oil Component Immersion Treatments on the Microbiology of Cod () during Chilled Storage.

Spoilage is a major issue for the seafood sector with the sale and exportation of fish limited by their short shelf-life. The immediate and storage effects of immersion (30 s at 20 °C) with 5% (/) citric acid (CA), 5% (/) lactic acid (LA), 5% (/) capric acid (CP) and 12% trisodium phosphate (TSP) (experiment 1) and essential oil components (EOC) (1% (/) citral (CIT), 1% (/) carvacrol (CAR), 1% (/) thymol (THY) and 1% (/) eugenol (EUG)) (experiment 2) on the concentrations of indicator (total viable counts (TVC) (mesophilic and psychrophilic) and total counts (TEC)), and spoilage organisms ( spp., lactic acid bacteria (LAB), , spp. and hydrogen sulphide producing bacteria (HSPB)) on cod () (stored aerobically at 2 °C) was investigated. There was no significant reduction for most treatment-bacteria combinations, with the following exceptions; TSP and TVC (time = 6), TSP and TVC ( = 6), CP and LAB ( = 6, 8 and 10), CP and ( = 4, 6, 8, 10, 14 and 16), TSP and spp. ( = 4), CAR and ( = 6) and CAR and HSPB ( = 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18). Although the majority of treatments did not significantly ( > 0.05) reduce bacterial counts, the limited success with CP and CAR warrants further investigation.