Abstract
Fresh fish are highly perishable, owing mainly to their moisture content, high amount of free amino acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Microorganisms and chemical reactions cause the spoilage, leading to loss in quality, human health risks and a market value reduction. Therefore, the fishing industry has always been willing to explore new technologies to increase quality and safety of fish products through a decrease of the microbiological and biochemical damage. In this context, antimicrobial active packaging is one such promising solution to meet consumer demands. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of an active polypropylene-based packaging functionalized with the antimicrobial peptide 1018K6 on microbial growth, physicochemical properties and the sensory attributes of raw salmon fillets. The results showed that application of 1018K6-polypropylene strongly inhibited the microbial growth of both pathogenic and specific spoilage organisms (SSOs) on fish fillets after 7 days. Moreover, salmon also kept its freshness as per volatile chemical spoilage indices (CSIs) during storage. Similar results were obtained on hamburgers of Sarda sarda performing the same analyses. This work provides further evidence that 1018K6-polymers have good potential as antimicrobial packaging for application in the food market to enhance quality and preserve the sensorial properties of fish products.
Highlights
Today, health, nutrition and convenience are the major drivers in the global food industry
Following confirmation of the excellent antimicrobial properties preserved by 1018K6, even after bonding on different materials, such as PET and nanoparticles [13,20], the peptide was further immobilized on another plastic polymer commonly used in food packaging, polypropylene (PP)
Commercial PP slides were exposed to plasma treatment to activate the inert polymeric surfaces with reactive -COOH* functional groups that are available to interact with the amine moieties of 1018K6, forming amide bonds [21]
Summary
Health, nutrition and convenience are the major drivers in the global food industry. In this context, fish products have attracted considerable attention as a source of important nutritional components, such as high-quality protein, essential vitamins, minerals and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) [1,2]. Fish is considered of key importance for human nutrition all over the world, providing about 17% of the global intake of animal proteins [3]. High-quality food with an extended shelflife is essential for both producers and consumers. Fish is a highly perishable product due to its relevant water activity, nearly neutral pH and specific composition that make it vulnerable to various biochemical, physical and microbial forms of deterioration throughout the production chain, causing rejection by consumers. Spoilage starts quickly after fish are caught, and rigor mortis is responsible for changes in fish after death
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