Shelf-life of cooked meat of southern king crab (Lithodes santolla) and false king crab (Paralomis granulosa) during refrigerated storage

<i>Lithodes santolla</i> (SKC) and <i>Paralomis granulosa</i> (FSKC) are economically important resources exploited in southern South America. The effect of refrigerated storage (4 °C on flake ice) on physico-chemical (pH, thiobarbituric reactive substances (TBARs), total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N), water holding capacity (WHC), and water content (WC)), microbiological (total viable mesophilic bacteria (TVMC), psychrotrophic bacteria (TVPC), <i>Staphylococcus</i> spp, coliforms, enterobacteria, molds and yeasts) and sensory (odor, appearance, texture, juiciness, and taste) parameters was analyzed in the cooked SKC and FSKC <i>merus</i>. For each species, cooked <i>merus</i> from 36 animals were randomly distributed into 6 groups, corresponding to 0, 2, 5, 8, 11, and 14 days of storage. On each day, samples were taken for physico-chemical (n = 6), microbiological (n = 3), and sensory (n = 15) analyses. The pH values increased over time (<i>P</i> < 0.01 in both species), the TBARs only increased in FSKC (<i>P</i> = 0.008), whereas the TVB-N significantly rose only in SKC (<i>P</i> = 0.001). The WHC and the WC did not change over time for any of the king crab species (<i>P</i> > 0.05) in all cases. The presence of TVCM, TVCP, and <i>Staphylococcus</i> spp. in both species was observed from day 0. Furthermore, pathogenic microorganisms (<i>S. aureus</i>, coliforms, and enterobacteria) were not detected, and only the TVCP in SFKC reached the suggested microbial limit after 11 days. All sensory scores significantly decreased (<i>P</i> < 0.001) over time, but the quality of both king crab species remained acceptable until the 11th day. These findings suggest that the shelf-life of cooked <i>merus</i> was 11 and 8 days for SKC and SFKC, respectively, when stored at 4 °C with the presence of flake ice. These contributions consist of elucidating the shelf-life of these economically important seafood products and providing insights into their quality maintenance during storage.