Mireille Cardinal

Dietary lipid level, hepatic lipogenesis and flesh quality in turbot (Psetta maxima)

A study was undertaken with marketable size turbot to evaluate the effects of dietary fat levels on chemical composition, lipogenesis and flesh quality. Four experimental diets containing graded levels of fish oil in order to obtain 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% of crude fat were fed to triplicate groups of turbot (initial body weight of 660 g) for 12 weeks in full strength seawater at temperature of 17°C. Nutrient digestibility was not influenced by dietary fat levels. The best growth performance was observed in fish fed 10% and 15% dietary fat. High dietary lipid levels led to higher fat deposition in whole fish, although lipid level in muscle remained low (1.1% in dorsal muscle and 1.7% in ventral muscle irrespective of diet). Significant subcutaneous fat accumulation was detected in turbot. No protein sparing effect by lipid was observed in turbot fed high dietary fat. Hepatic lipogenic enzymes (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, G6PD; malic enzyme, ME and acetyl CoA carboxylase) did not show any clear change in activity in response to dietary fat content. With regards to quality parameters, there were no differences in gutted and fillet yields among treatments. Sensory analyses of dorsal fillets indicated only a difference in exudation (corresponding to loss of water) and whiteness within treatments in accordance with instrumental colour analyses and on ventral fillets, only a difference of sweet flavour was observed. No differences in hardness were detected by either instrumental texture analysis or sensory analysis. In conclusion, although high dietary lipid levels affected growth and whole body composition of turbot adversely they induced very few alterations in flesh quality.

Research of quality indices for cold‐smoked salmon using a stepwise multiple regression of microbiological counts and physico‐chemical parameters

Aims: The aim of the study was to assess the relationships between the remaining shelf‐life (RSL) of cold‐smoked salmon and various microbiological and physico‐chemical parameters, using a multivariate data analysis in the form of stepwise forward multiple regression.

Relation of smoking parameters to the yield, colour and sensory quality of smoked Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

The relations between smoking parameters and the characteristics of salmon raw material were investigated with respect to yield, colour, flesh content of phenol and salt, and sensory properties. The fish studied were ocean ranched salmon harvested in Iceland in July 1998 and farmed salmon from Norway slaughtered in October 1998 and April 1999. Seven treatments were applied on fresh or frozen raw material combining dry or brine salting with cold smoking at 20 or 30°C. Electrostatic smoking was tested on dry-salted salmon fillets. The results show a lower yield after filleting and trimming with ocean ranched fish. Although freezing had little effect on yield, total loss was slightly greater, especially for fish with low fat content. Sensory differences were also apparent. The brine salting technique resulted in lower losses. Fish with higher fat content gave a better yield after processing, although careful control of the smoking procedure was required (especially at 30°C) to avoid a case-hardening effect. With brine salting, salt uptake was higher for smaller, leaner fish. The phenol content of flesh depended on the technique and/or smoking temperature used, regardless of the fish studied. However, for a smoking temperature of 30°C, the flesh of smaller, leaner fish showed a higher phenol level. Smoking conditions and preliminary treatment such as freezing produced similar differences in sensory characteristics, regardless of the fish studied, although smaller, leaner individuals appeared to be more sensitive to these processes.

Spoilage potential and sensory profile associated with bacteria isolated from cold-smoked salmon

Off-odours/flavours associated with cold-smoked salmon spoilage are due to the activity of microflora. This study evaluated the spoilage potential of nine bacterial groups (Shewanella putrefaciens, Brochothrix thermosphacta, Aeromonas spp., Lactobacillus alimentarius, Lactobacillus sake,Lactobacillus farciminis, Carnobacterium piscicola, Photobacterium phosphoreum and Serratia liquefaciens) isolated from cold-smoked salmon. Five different isolates from each group were inoculated into sterile cold-smoked salmon blocks, and chemical and sensory changes were studied after five weeks of storage in vacuum packs at 6°C. Bacterial growth was monitored weekly during the storage period. A sensory profile was assigned to each group. Principal component analysis allowed some bacterial species to be characterised by a specific odour, and correspondence factorial analysis discriminated among the species according to their spoilage potential. The bacteria mainly responsible for spoilage were L. sake, L. farciminis and B. thermosphacta, which produced sulphurous, acidic and rancid off-odours respectively. Some strains of S. liquefaciens produced rubbery, cheesy or acidic off- odours. Some P. phosphoreum isolates were characterised by an acidic effect.

Origin and ecological selection of core and food-specific bacterial communities associated with meat and seafood spoilage

The microbial spoilage of meat and seafood products with short shelf lives is responsible for a significant amount of food waste. Food spoilage is a very heterogeneous process, involving the growth of various, poorly characterized bacterial communities. In this study, we conducted 16S ribosomal RNA gene pyrosequencing on 160 samples of fresh and spoiled foods to comparatively explore the bacterial communities associated with four meat products and four seafood products that are among the most consumed food items in Europe. We show that fresh products are contaminated in part by a microbiota similar to that found on the skin and in the gut of animals. However, this animal-derived microbiota was less prevalent and less abundant than a core microbiota, psychrotrophic in nature, mainly originated from the environment (water reservoirs). We clearly show that this core community found on meat and seafood products is the main reservoir of spoilage bacteria. We also show that storage conditions exert strong selective pressure on the initial microbiota: alpha diversity in fresh samples was 189±58 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) but dropped to 27±12 OTUs in spoiled samples. The OTU assemblage associated with spoilage was shaped by low storage temperatures, packaging and the nutritional value of the food matrix itself. These factors presumably act in tandem without any hierarchical pattern. Most notably, we were also able to identify putative new clades of dominant, previously undescribed bacteria occurring on spoiled seafood, a finding that emphasizes the importance of using culture-independent methods when studying food microbiota.

Fat deposition and flesh quality in seawater reared, triploid brown trout (Salmo trutta) as affected by dietary fat levels and starvation

Three isoproteic (crude protein content: 56%) diets with different fat levels (11%, 20%, and 26%) were fed to triplicate groups of triploid brown trout (initial average body weight of 1.5 kg), reared in seawater. At the end of 3 months of feeding, fish fed the high-fat (HF) diet were split into two groups: a triplicate group of fish received the low-fat diet and another triplicate group was kept unfed for a further 2-month period. Fish initially fed the low-fat diet during the first period were continued to be fed the same diet. Fish fed the medium-fat (MF) diet during period 1 were eliminated for period 2. At the end of each period, comparative whole body analyses, sensory and instrumental (texture and colour) analyses were made on fresh and smoked fillets. During the first period, increasing dietary fat level had no significant effect on growth or feed utilisation, but increased whole body (14.6% to 17.9%, on wet weight basis) and muscle (8.3% to 11.0%) fat content. During the second period, the fish fed the low-fat diet had similar growth performance irrespective of previous nutritional history, whereas starvation led to significant loss of weight and fillet yield. Whole body fat content did not differ between groups (around 15%) at the end of period 2. In fish initially fed the HF diet, both starvation and feeding a low-fat diet led to a reduction in muscle lipid content. Sensory analyses revealed few differences between treatments, in terms of visual colour aspects, for both cooked and smoked fillets at the end of period 1. A positive relationship between instrumental colour analyses (L*, a*, b* values) and dietary fat levels was observed, but no difference was observed for instrumental texture measurements. At the end of period 2, a significant increase in parameters of colour was observed in unfed fish. Although both feed withdrawal and feeding a low-fat diet 2 months before slaughtering led to a reduction in fat content, starvation had the disadvantage of leading to significant weight loss.

Characterisation of the spoilage microbiota in raw salmon (Salmo salar) steaks stored under vacuum or modified atmosphere packaging combining conventional methods and PCR-TTGE.

In order to characterise the spoilage related to microbiota of raw salmon, a combination of culture-dependent and -independent methods, including PCR-TTGE, was used to analyse 3 raw salmon batches stored for 3 days at chilled temperature in modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) (50% CO₂/50% N₂) or under vacuum. Sensory evaluation, microbiological enumeration and chemical analysis were performed after 3, 7 and 10 days of storage. At the onset of spoilage, 65 bacterial isolates were picked from the plates. Thus, 13 different genera or species were identified by phenotypic and molecular tests: Serratia spp., Photobacterium phosphoreum, Yersinia intermedia, Hafnia alvei, Buttiauxella gaviniae, Pseudomonas sp., Carnobacterium maltaromaticum, Carnobacterium divergens, Lactococcus piscium, Lactobacillus fuchuensis, Vagococcus carniphilus, Leuconostoc gasicomitatum and Brochothrix thermosphacta. The PCR-TTGE profiles and band identification enabled a shift of the dominant populations during the storage to be visualised for all the batches, probably due to the temperature change and the packaging. At the beginning of storage, Pseudomonas sp. dominated the raw salmon microbiota while in the following days (7 and 10), P. phosphoreum and L. piscium were identified as the main bacterial groups. This study enhances the knowledge of MAP and vacuum-packed raw salmon spoilage microbiota.

Sensory characteristics of spoilage and volatile compounds associated with bacteria isolated from cooked and peeled tropical shrimps using SPME-GC-MS analysis

The spoilage potential of six bacterial species isolated from cooked and peeled tropical shrimps (Brochothrix thermosphacta, Serratia liquefaciens-like, Carnobacterium maltaromaticum, Carnobacterium divergens, Carnobacterium alterfunditum-like and Vagococcus penaei sp. nov.) was evaluated. The bacteria were inoculated into shrimps, packaged in a modified atmosphere and stored for 27 days at 8 °C. Twice a week, microbial growth, as well as chemical and sensory changes, were monitored during the storage period. The bacteria mainly involved in shrimp spoilage were B. thermosphacta, S. liquefaciens-like and C. maltaromaticum whose main characteristic odours were cheese-sour, cabbage-amine and cheese-sour-butter, respectively. The volatile fraction of the inoculated shrimp samples was analysed by solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). This method showed that the characteristic odours were most likely induced by the production of volatile compounds such as 3-methyl-1-butanal, 2,3-butanedione, 2-methyl-1-butanal, 2,3-heptanedione and trimethylamine.

Total replacement of fish oil by soybean or linseed oil with a return to fish oil in Turbot (Psetta maxima): 2. Flesh quality properties

The aim of this study was to evaluate (1) the effects of replacement of fish oil by vegetable oils on flesh quality and (2) the effects of a washout with a return to fish oil on flesh quality of turbot. In a first period of 3 months, three isonitrogenous and isolipidic diets containing 9% of added marine fish oil (FO), soybean oil (SO) or linseed oil (LO) were fed to triplicate groups of 25 marketable size turbot (initial body weight: 579±1 g) grown in sea water at the temperature of 17 °C. At the end of the first period, all groups of turbot were fed with the diet containing fish oil (diet FO) for a further period of 2 months. The gutted and fillet yields were not affected by the incorporation of vegetable oils. However, soybean or linseed oils significantly affected the organoleptic quality of flesh particularly odour, colour and texture. A more pronounced potatoes odour and a lower fat texture were observed in dorsal fillet of turbot fed soybean oil diet. During the washout period, the differences observed between treatments in first period on sensory attributes disappeared. This study showed that the changes in organoleptic properties occurring due to the intake of vegetable oils can be reduced with a return to a fish-oil-based diet.

Inhibition of Brochothrix thermosphacta and sensory improvement of tropical peeled cooked shrimp by Lactococcus piscium CNCM I-4031.

Aims:  To investigate the antimicrobial spectrum of Lactococcus piscium CNCM I‐4031 and its protective effect in cooked and peeled shrimp against Brochothrix thermosphacta.