Effect of lactic acid bacteria application on shelf life and safety of fish fillet at 6±1°c

Preservation of foods in a sound and safe condition remains an on-going challenge for humans. Application of Lactic Acid Bacteria as food preservative is a novel approach and is an important component of biopreservation technique. The use of LAB and/or their bacteriocins, either alone or in combination with mild physicochemical treatments and low concentrations of traditional and natural chemical preservatives, may help in extending shelf life and food safety. In the present study, Lactobacillus sakei ATCC 15521 was used to improve the shelf life of horse mackerel fillet at a temperature of 6±1oC against the pathogen, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, and quantified by microbial and biochemical analyses. The nature of inhibition was bacteriostatic rather than bacteriocidal. The result reveals that, L. sakei may be effective as biopreservative of horse mackerel fillet only for a limited period of 15 days.