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Abstract:
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In this study, an attempt has been made to gather enough information regarding lactic acid bacteria from fish and shellfish of tropical regions. The occurrence and distribution of lactic acid bacteria in fresh and frozen marine fish and shellfish, farmed fish and shellfish, cured and pickled fish and shellfish have been investigated. Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) have for centuries been responsible for the fermentative preservation of many foods. They are used to retard spoilage and preserve foods through natural fermentations. They have found commercial applications as
starter cultures in the dairy, baking, meat, fish, and vegetable and alcoholic beverage
industries. They are industrially important organisms recognized for their fermentative
ability as well as their nutritional benefits. These organisms produce various compounds
such as organic acids, diacetyl, hydrogen peroxide and bacteriocins or bactericidal
proteins during lactic fermentations.Biopreservation of foods using bacteriocin producing LAB cultures is becoming widely used. The antimicrobial effect of bacteriocins and other compounds
produced during fermentation of carbohydrates are well known to inhibit the growth of
certain food spoiling bacteria as well as a limited group of food poisoning and pathogenic bacteria LAB like Lactobacillus plantarum are widely used as starter cultures for the
Production of fish ensilage. The present study is the first quantitative and qualitative study on the
occurrence and distribution of lactic acid bacteria in fresh and frozen fish and prawn. It
is concluded that Lactobacillus plantaruni was the predominant lactobacillus species in fresh and frozen fish and shellfish. The ability of selected Lactobacillus cultures to grow at low temperatures, high salt content, produce bacteriocins, rapidly ferment sugars and decrease the pH make them potential candidates for biopreservation of fish and shellfish. |