Biodegradable Chitosan Coating Incorporated with Black Pepper Essential Oil for Shelf Life Extension of Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) during Refrigerated Storage.
Chitosan (Ch) coating incorporated with black pepper essential oil (Ch+BPEO) was studied to extend the shelf life of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) during refrigerated storage at 4 ± 1°C. The chemical composition of BPEO was characterized using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Antibacterial properties of BPEO were determined by disk diffusion agar, MIC, and MBC. Ch (2% [wt/vol]) and Ch+BPEO (2% [wt/vol] Ch with 1.5% [vol/vol] BPEO) were used for common carp fillet coating. The samples were analyzed periodically for chemical (pH, total volatile basic nitrogen) and microbiological (aerobic plate count, psychrophilic bacteria count, lactic acid bacteria, and Enterobacteriaceae bacterial counts) characteristics during 16 days. The GC-MS results indicated that main components in BPEO were carene, caryophyllene, limonene, β-pinene, and α-pinene. The samples coated with Ch and Ch+BPEO resulted in lower pH and total volatile basic nitrogen values in comparison with the control. The microbiological analysis of fish fillets during refrigerated storage clearly indicated that Ch+BPEO coating significantly reduced the fish fillet microbial load. The aerobic plate count, psychrophilic bacteria count, lactic acid bacteria count, and Enterobacteriaceae bacterial count of samples coated with Ch+BPEO were reduced approximately 4.1, 3.9, 2.3, and 2.8 log CFU/g, respectively, at the end of the storage period. Finally, Ch and Ch+BPEO effectively improved the quality of fish fillet during refrigerated storage and extended the shelf life of fish fillets from 8 to 16 days.



Black pepper; Chitosan; Common carp; Essential oil.
Seafood Processing Research Group, School of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz 7144165186, Iran; Department of Food Science and Technology, School of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz 7144165186, Iran. marzieh.moosavi-nasab@mail.mcgill.ca.
Marzieh
M
Moosavi-Nasab
Department of Food Science and Technology, School of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz 7144165186, Iran.
Ehsan
E
Shad
Department of Food Science and Technology, School of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz 7144165186, Iran.
Esmaeil
E
Ziaee
Department of Food Science and Technology, School of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz 7144165186, Iran.
Seyyed Hossein Asadi
SH
Yousefabad
Department of Food Science and Technology, School of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz 7144165186, Iran.
Mohammad Taghi
MT
Golmakani
Department of Food Science and Technology, School of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz 7144165186, Iran.
Mehdi
M
Azizinia
D000818:Animals; D002347:Carps; D048271:Chitosan; D005519:Food Preservation; D008017:Life Expectancy; D009822:Oils, Volatile; D029222:Piper nigrum
D009822:Oils, Volatile; D048271:Chitosan