Abstract: Living Pseudosciaena crocea was sacrificed, and then ice-stored immediately (as a control) or after 4 or 8 h delay in 25 ℃ environment, and the microbial, chemical and sensory parameters of Pseudosciaena crocea during 800 h of ice storage were periodically measured in order to assess the effect of delayed ice exposure on the quality changes of Pseudosciaena crocea during ice storage. In comparison with the control, delayed ice exposure led to significant increases in the counts of total viable bacteria (TVC), Psychrobacter spp., Pseudomonas spp. and H2S-producing bacteria as well as total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) content, and a significant decrease in the sensory quality, but no significant change in rimethylamine nitrogen (TMA-N) throughout the period of storage. These findings reveal that delayed ice exposure is able to significantly promote the growth of various microbes during ice storage, accelerate the generation rates of TVB-N and TMA-N and the production of off-odor, and substantially shorten the shelf life of Pseudosciaena crocea. According to the sensory evaluation results given by 5 trained panelists, the shelf lives of icestored Pseudosciaena crocea after 0, 4 h and 8 h delay were 648, 550 h and 408 h, respectively. Therefore, immediate ice exposure prolongs the shelf life of Pseudosciaena crocea by 98 h and 240 h when compared to 4 and 8 h delay, respectively.

Key words: Pseudosciaena crocea, delayed ice exposure, shelf life, quality change