Abstract: The total viable count and the number of Pseudomonas and Shewanella are important indicators affecting the freshness of Atlantic salmon. Therefore, the detection of their changes can help monitor and pre-judge the quality of Atlantic salmon during storage and transportation. The total viable count and the number of Pseudomonas and Shewanella in Atlantic salmon during storage at different temperatures were nonlinearly fitted to the modified Gompertz, Baranyi and Roberts and Belehradek models. Results showed that the Baranyi and Roberts model was more suitable to reflect the changes in the number of microorganisms on Atlantic salmon during storage at 4, 10, and 25 ℃ when compared with the modified Gompertz model. The coefficients of determination (R2) of the Baranyi and Roberts models for the total viable count and the number of Pseudomonas and Shewanella were greater than 0.9, 0.995, 0.994 and 0.952 at 25 ℃, 0.993, 0.996 and 0.997 at 10 ℃, and 0.981, 0.995 and 0.914 at 4 ℃, respectively. The lag period of the growth curve and the maximum specific growth rate versus storage temperature were fitted to the Bellehradek equation using parameters obtained from the Baranyi and Roberts models. Furthermore, a microbial growth prediction software was written in Visual Basic (VB) to obtain the number and growth curve of microorganisms at different storage temperatures quickly, which will provide an efficient and convenient tool for pre-judging and monitoring microbial growth in Atlantic salmon.

Key words: Atlantic salmon, microorganisms, prediction system, Pseudomonas, Shewanella