Use of Natural Preservatives in Seafood

CARMEN A. CAMPOS; MARCELA P. CASTRO; SANTIAGO AUBOURG; JORGE BARROS VELÁZQUEZ

ISEKI Book Series. Novel technologies in food science - their impact on products, consumer trends and environment

Springer

Lugar: New York; Año: 2012; p. 325 - 360

Seafood products are known to be especially susceptible to both microbiological and biochemical spoilage pathways. Accordingly, efficient and hygienic preservation processes should be applied immediately after capture/slaughter to preserve product freshness and quality. The development of effective processing treatments to extend the shelf life of fresh fish products is a must. Additionally, the consumers? demand of high quality and minimally-processed seafood has recently captivated a great attention. However an increase in foodborne illness outbreaks is concomitant with the increase in consumer demand for less processed foods. These trends highlight the importance of studying new microbial stress factors. Among them, natural preservatives are one of the stress factors proposed to improve quality and extend shelf life of seafoods. The latter are perceived by the consumers as safer than chemical or synthetic additives. In the last decades, numerous studies demonstrating antimicrobial activity of natural compounds against pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms have been carried out. Moreover, it is known that factors like pH, temperature and food components can greatly influence applicability in a food product and it is a must to perform studies on the specific products to test stability throughout the expected shelf life.      Seafood deterioration occurs not only due to microbial growth, oxidation of lipids and endogenous enzyme activity, which can produce lipid hydrolysis as a consequence of lipases activity, but also, in the case of crustaceans, because of the action of polyphenoloxidases that induce nonenzymatic browning,  which are important reactions to be effectively controlled. In this sense, antioxidant and antibrowning agents can be used for preventing these reactions.                 Antimicrobial, antioxidant and antibrowning agents are all additives used for extending the shelf life of a food and all of them are designed as preservatives.