Abstract:

In this research, we evaluated the changes in the freshness of silver carp fillets during storage at 0 ℃ by
monitoring physical, chemical and microbial indexes including total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) value, pH value, color
difference value, trimethylamine (TMA) value, 2-thiobarbituricacid (TBA) value and the total number of bacterial colonies,
volatile aroma compounds, and texture and sensory characteristics. The volatile odor released from the fish fillets was
determined by electronic nose and analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA), loadings analysis (LA) and linear
discriminant analysis (LDA). The results showed the TVB-N value, TMA value and the total number of colonies of silver
carp fillets stored at 0 ℃ increased with the extension of storage time, pH value increased after an initial decrease, and color
difference and TMA value did not have reference value for the determination of fish quality. Sensory evaluation scores,
hardness and springiness showed a decreasing trend. Meanwhile, electronic nose was able to distinguish silver carp fillet
samples stored for different periods. In addition, the total number of colonies displayed significantly positive correlations
with TVB-N value and TMA value (R = 0.964 and 0.951, respectively). Based on the microbiological, physical and chemical
changes observed throughout the storage period at 0 ℃, the shelf life of silver carp fillets was 12 days.

Key words: silver carp fillets, physical and chemical indexes, freshness change, texture, electronic nose