Occurrence of Biogenic Amine Forming Bacteria in Cured Fishery Products of Thoothukkudi Region of Tamil Nadu, India

摘要

The occurrence of biogenic amine forming bacteria in cured fishery products produced and marketed in Thoothukkudi region of Tamil Nadu, India was investigated. Twelve varieties of commercially important salted, dried and smoked fishery products were examined. The total bacterial load in the samples of cured fishery products ranged from 10~2 to 10~5 cfu/g. The occurrence of histamine formers ranged from 0 to 75%, while the cadaverine formers varied from 1 to 66% and putrescine formers from 1 to 51%. Histamine formers were found to be very high in salted Indian ilisha. Salted seer fish recorded a high content of eadaverine formers, whereas dried anchovies fspratts) had highest putrescine formers. The moisture content and water activity (a_w) of the cured fishery products analyzed ranged from 2.35% to 47.91% and 0.41 to 0.98, respectively. The salt content varied from 2.22% to 20.26% in the cured samples examined. Histamine formers and putrescine formers were found to be predominant in most of the cured fishery products. Cured fishery products may pose a health hazard, if not prepared hygienically.