title: Study of the microbial ecology of wild and aquacultured Tunisian fresh fish.
abstract: Eighty samples of fresh fish were collected in Tunisia and analyzed for microbial load. Quality and hygienic safety of the meat and intestines of wild and aquacultured fresh fish were determined. The mesophilic aerobic plate count and populations of psychrotrophic lactic acid bacteria  (LAB) and other psychrotrophic bacteria ranged from 5.67 to 7.29, 4.51 to 6, and 5.07 to 6.21 log CFU/g, respectively. For all microbiological determinations, bacterial counts were lower in meat than in the intestines of fresh fish. For all samples lower microbial populations were found in  most of the wild fish than in the aquacultured fish. No isolates of the pathogenic genera Salmonella and Listeria were detected in any sample. Among the 160 strains of biopreservative psychrotrophic LAB and the 150 strains of spoilage psychrotrophic gram-negative bacteria identified  by biochemical and molecular methods, Lactobacillus (six species) and Pseudomonas (six species) predominated. Lactococcus, Leuconostoc, Carnobacterium (C. piscicola and C. divergens), Aeromonas, and Photobacterium were the most common genera,  and Lactococcus lactis, Lactobacillus plantarum, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Aeromonas hydrophila were the most common species. These findings indicate that the microbiological quality of fresh fish in Tunisia can be preserved by controlling pathogenic and psychrotrophic  bacteria.
authors: Unité de Recherche Sciences et Technologies des Aliments, École Supérieure des Industries Alimentaires de Tunis, 58 Avenue Alain Savary, Cité El Khadhra 1003, Tunis, Tunisie. boulares_mouna2006@yahoo.fr
authors: Mouna
authors: M
authors: Boulares
authors: Lobna
authors: L
authors: Mejri
authors: Mnasser
authors: M
authors: Hassouna
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000382:microbiology; D017756:Aquaculture / Q000592:standards*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D005399:Fishes / Q000382:microbiology*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005519:Food Preservation; D017747:Seafood / Q000382:microbiology*; D014416:Tunisia