Abstract

The study was designed to investigate the microbial estimation in the fish mince collected from Nandus nandus, Channa marulius and Puntius sarana which was stored at -20°C for a period of six months and analyzed every fortnightly for total plate count. During the study period, in the mince of N. nandus, C. marulius and P. sarana, there was a continuous decrease in the total plate count from 4.5 × 10⁵, 4 × 10⁵ and 3.33 × 10⁵,respectively on 0 day to 8.3 × 10⁴, 6.6 × 10³ and 3 × 10⁴, respectively on 180 days of storage. There was a difference of one log cycle in TPC from 0 to 180 days in the mince of N. nandus and P. sarana; whereas, in the mince of C. marulius, this difference was of two log cycles. The colonies of Esherichia coli were found up to 120 days in mince of N. nandus and C. marulius; whereas, in P. sarana, the colonies were found only up to 75 days. The overall results of microbiological analysis revealed a continuous decrease in the total plate count and E. coli count on all the days of storage. Stayphylococcus aureus was not found throughout the storage period.

Key words: Escherichia coli, Stayphylococcus aureus, fish mince, frozen storage, total plate count.