Abstract: Fish-balls packaged in controlled atmosphere with 100% N2, 50% CO2 + 50% N2, 75% CO2 + 25% N2, 100% CO2 and air packing as control were stored respectively at-1 ± 0.5℃ to study the effects of atmosphere composition on its sensory quality, aerobic bacterial count, total volatile basic nitrogen value (TVB-N), 2-thiobarbituric acid (TBA) and pH value respectively. Results showed that higher CO2 concentration can inhibit microbial growth, decrease TVB-N value and extend shelf life of fish-ball effectively , while show less effect on the TBA and pH value. The composition of the microflora of fish-ball changes obviously during storage. After controlled freezing-point storage for 34 days, the bacteria in fish-ball of 75% CO2 + 25% N2 package were mostly Gram-negative strains whose preponderant bacterium is Aeromonas spp., while the gram-positive strains are dominant in air packing whose preponderant bacterium is Staphylococcus spp.

Key words: fish-ball, controlled freezing-point storage, modified atmosphere packaging, quality ..