Acceptance of fish hamburgers in school meals in the Southwest Region of Paraná, Brazil

Improving the Shelf-Life of Fish Burgers Made with a Mix of Sea Bass and Sea Bream Meat by Bioprotective Cultures

Seafood products are one of the most perishable foods, and their shelf life is limited by enzymatic and microbial spoilage. Developing methods to extend the shelf life of fresh fish could reduce food waste in the fishery industry, retail stores, and private households. In recent decades, the application of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) as bioprotective cultures has become a promising tool. In this study, we evaluated the use of four starter cultures, previously selected for their properties as bioprotective agents, for sea bass and sea bream burgers biopreservation. Starter cultures impacted the microbial populations, biochemical parameters (pH, TVB-N), and sensory properties of fish burgers, during 10 days of storage at 4 °C and then 20 days at 8 °C in modified atmosphere packaging (MAP). Also, storage time influenced the microbial and physicochemical characteristics of all the tested samples, except for TVB-N values, which were significantly higher in the uninoculated burgers. The volatilome changed in the different treatments, and in particular, the samples supplemented with starter presented a profile that described their rapid growth and colonization, with the production of typical molecules derived from their metabolism. The addition of bioprotective cultures avoided bloating spoilage and improved the sensory parameters of the burgers. The shelf life of the fish burgers supplemented with starter cultures could be extended up to 12 days.

Amino acid profile of food fishes with potential to diversify fish farming activity

In Brazil, 47% of the fish farming correspond to the tilapia species, and the main producers are the south and northeast regions. This work aimed at characterizing the amino acid profile of three fishes with the potential for rearing and diversification in Brazil and worldwide. The fishes grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus), and catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) were obtained from a rural property located in the city of Pato Branco, PR, Brazil, and analyzed regarding the amino acid composition through High-Performance Liquid Chromatography. The amino acid profile showed the presence of glutamic acid, followed by lysine, aspartic acid, and leucine as the most prominent amino acids for the three fishes. Among the studied species, the grass carp presented the highest content of essential amino acids, registering all values superior to the minimum recommendation standards determined by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The disclosure of the significant nutritional value presented by these species consolidate their protein quality and expand possibilities to improve the fish farming and development of derivative products.