Synergistic effect of high pressure processing and lactic acid bacteria on freshness keeping of channel catfish ( <i>Ictalurus punctatus</i> ) fillets as sashimi

Freshness is regarded as a fundamental and important indicator in assessing sashimi quality and safety. In this present study, the potential of high pressure processing (HPP) and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) to keep the freshness of channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) fillets as sashimi was examined at laboratory scale. The bactericidal effect of LAB, High hydrostatic pressure (HHP; 200 MPa for 10 min), individually and combined, on quality retention during refrigerated storage was evaluated. There are no references in the literature reporting such alleviating quality alteration at as low as 200 MPa. Moreover, none has evaluated the combined effect of HHP and LAB on the shelf life of refrigerated fish fillets. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the combined application of HPP and LAB treatments in freshness keeping and shelf-life extension of channel catfish fillets under refrigeration at 4 ± 1°C. For the first time, a synergistic effect of LAB and HHP at significantly reduced pressures, which could reduce remarkably the operational costs, was observed and further enhanced by chilling. Results showed that both HPP and LAB resulted in significantly suppressing the contaminated microbial growth and had substantial influence on the period that channel catfish fillets could be used as sashimi material extended from 24 h to 72 h. The results showed that a combination of HHP treatment with natural preservatives such as LAB coupled with refrigeration storage was confirmed in sashimi processing.