4 °C - the National Sea Grant Library

The variables that correlated well with storage day for all
combined containers were the same parameters found during 0°C
storage except for the deletion of percent CO 2 and the addition of
total volatile base. The microbiological determinations had the
highest correlation values with storage time at 4°C: anaerobic plate
counts (0.928) psychrotrophic plate counts (0.913), and aerobic
plate counts (0.894). Total volatile base (0.857), ammonia (0.845),
and oxygen (-0.703) levels also correlated significantly with
storage time. Putrid odor did not correlate well with storage time
for combined samples. Control (0.769), shrink-wrap (0.713), and
aluminum-end (0.703) containers developed relatively high individual
putrid odor correlation coefficients. Meat packed in control
containers also had high correlation values for ammonia (0.768) and
crab odors (0.751).
A collateral study (Harrison et al., 1994) looked for toxin
production by Clostridium botulinum during inoculated pack studies
at 4°C and at the abusive temperature of 10°C. No toxin was
detected following 18 days of storage at 4°C or following 15 days of
storage at 10°C. The crab meat was obviously spoiled at 18 and 15
days, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS
Control samples in industry standard plastic fresh meat cups
generally maintained higher oxygen levels than meat packaged in
tamper-evident containers. No consistent differences in quality or
shelf life were detected among the four package types. Market shelf
life was limited to six days for meat held at 4°C and 15 days for
meat held at O°C in all sample containers. The collateral work by
Harrison et al. (1994) shows that toxin production by Clostridium
botulinurn neither occurred following 18 days of storage at 4°C nor
after 15 days of storage at an abusive temperature, 1O°C. Spoilage
occurred before any toxin production.
The study suggests that blue crab processors can safely use
new tamper-evident packaging. New blue crab meat packaging options
have little or no effect on product quality or shelf life.
Processors may choose appropriate packaging options using price,
packaging quality, market appearance, and ease of production as the
deciding criteria.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was sponsored in part by the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration Office of Sea Grant under Grant #NA
26 RGG 373-01 and by the National Fisheries Institute. The views
expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily
reflect the views of NOAA or any of its subagencies. The U.S.
Government is authorized to produce and distribute reprints for
governmental purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation that
may appear hereon. The use of trade names in this publication does
not imply endorsement by the University of Georgia, nor criticism of
similar ones not mentioned. The authors thank the following
individuals and companies for their dedicated assistance with this
project: Jack Amason of Sea Garden Seafoods, Liping He, The King
Plastic Corporation, David Lewis of The Lewis Crab Factory, Triplas
Incorporated, and Min Zheng.