Microbial communities and biogenic amines of crucian carp (Carassius auratus) fillets during partial freezing and chilled storage

ABSTRACTThis study aimed to identify the dominant microbiota of crucian carp fillets during partial freezing (−3°C) and chilled (4°C) storage, and to correlate microbial changes with sensory scores and biogenic amines (BAs). The microbial communities of stored crucian carp fillets were identified by the high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technique of the V4 regions of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene. A total of 217,377 effective sequences and 690 different operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified and used in the analysis of microbial diversity. Culture-independent methods showed that the Pseudomonas were the predominant bacterial species of crucian carp fillets at the end of the storage. In addition, microbial enumeration also indicated relatively higher counts of Pseudomonas. Compared to chilled samples, partial freezing inhibited the growth of spoilage microorganisms during storage and extended the shelf-life of crucian carp fillets by 28 days based on the sensory analysis. However, there was no sign...