A Review on Spoilage Microorganisms in Fresh and Processed Aquatic Food Products

Abstract

Aquatic food products are greatly perishable owing to their biological compositions. Spoilage is defined as any alteration in food products that lead to unacceptable attributes to the consumers, mainly through sensory perception. Microbial spoilage is a common type of spoilage among seafood products. In this paper, we reviewed and discussed the various spoilage microorganisms (molds, yeasts, and bacteria) in fresh and processed fish and fishery products. Many studies reported that processed fishery products, such as salted, dried, and hot-smoked fish, are commonly spoiled by molds, mainly under the genus of Aspergillus and Penicillium. Yeasts as spoilage agents have been associated with fish and fishery products stored at low temperatures, notably dominated by two genera, Candida and Rhodotorula, while other yeast species have also been linked to heavily-salted fish and fermented aquatic foods. The important genera of spoilage bacteria that have been documented in fresh and processed fish and fishery products were Pseudomonas, Alcaligenes, Aeromonas, Enterobacter, Bacillus, Enterococcus, Psychrobacter, Escherichia coli, Listeria, Brochothrix, and Shewanella species. Microorganisms play an important role in the spoilage of processed and fresh fish/fishery products. Further research should be undertaken to fully understand the microbial world, particularly associated with aquatic food products.