Microbiological analysis
The changes in the total plate count (TPC) during storage were
enumerated and the results are presented in Table 3. TPC
analyses of fish products did not exceed the maximum levels
(7 Log. cfu/g of meat) of microbiological criteria for fresh and
frozen fish given by the ICMSF (1978). A steady increase in
TPC was observed during refrigerated storage from the initial
value of 4.06×102
cfu/g to 7.38×104
cfu/g. The psychrophilic
bacteria count of fish burger were initially 3.2×102
cfu/g
which reached 5.76×104
cfu/g of sample at the end of the
storage period. Taskaya et al. (2003)observedanincrease
from the initial count of 4.04 Log. cfu/g to 8.91 Log. cfu/g
in fish burger stored at refrigerated temperature over a period
of 21 days. Kilinc (2007) observed increase in total viable
count from 5.7×102
cfu/g of meat to 1.6×106
cfu/g of meat in
fish patties from anchovies at the end of 5 days. Baygar et al.
(2008) observed a significant increase in the total mesophilic
bacterial count in rainbow trout meat balls during storage.