Quality Changes and Biogenic Amines Accumulation of Black Carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus) Fillets Stored at Different Temperatures

Postmortem quality changes of black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus) fillets stored at 20, 4, and 0 degrees C (in ice) were determined in terms of pH value, K value, total volatile basic nitrogen, free amino acids, biogenic amines, drip loss, electrical conductivity (EC), sensory score, and microbial growth. The results showed that black carp fillets could maintain a good quality for 2, 9, and 12 days when stored at 20, 4, and 0 degrees C, respectively. Pseudomonads, Aeromonas, and Enterobacteriaceae were the main spoilage bacteria in black carp. Tryptamine, 2-phenylethylamine, putrescine, cadaverine, and tyramine increased significantly (P < 0.05) during storage at the three temperatures, but not spermidine and spermine, among which tyramine and putrescine were the main biogenic amines in black carp fillets. A significantly higher concentration of histamine (132.05 mg/kg on the third day) was detected in the samples stored at 20 degrees C (P < 0.01) than at 4 and 0 degrees C (0.62 to 3.28 mg/kg) throughout storage, indicating storage of samples at 20 degrees C favored the formation of histamine. The accumulations of tyramine, cadaverine, and histamine were highly correlated with the productions of tyrosine, lysine, and histidine, respectively. Correlations between EC and sensory, physical, chemical, and microbial parameters at the three storage temperatures showed that EC could be used as a better quality indicator to assess the overall quality of fish stored at 4 and 0 degrees C (low temperature) than at 20 degrees C.