Abstract:

Total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) was selected as the indicator of quality change and shelf life for instant Litopenaeus vannamei products. The TVB-N was determined to be 16.0 mg/100g as the end of shelf life based on sensory evaluation. The first order kinetic equation between TVB-N and storage time (t), and Arrhenius kinetic equation between rate constant of TVBN (k) and storage temperature (T) were established to predict quality change of shrimp products and shelf life during storage at a certain temperature. In Arrhenius equation, obtained activation energy Ea was 66.24 kJ/mol and pre-exponential factor k0 was 8.41×109. Compared with observed shelf life of shrimp products stored at 15, 37 and 42℃, relative error between predicted and observed shelf life were 10.45%, －4.72% and －0.87%, respectively. Shelf life of vacuum-packed instant shrimp products was 151.8 days at 20 ℃ and 96.5 days at 25 ℃ through extrapolation of Arrhenius equation.

Key words: Litopenaeus vannamei, shelf life, kinetics model, total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N), Arrhenius equation