Quality change in lightly salted and sugar-salted sturgeon fillets stored at 4 ℃

We investigated the effect of low concentrations of salt and sugar on quality change of sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) fillets during cold storage (4 ℃) by measuring sensory score, total aerobic counts (TAC), total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N), nucleotide degradation products and biogenic amines. Results show that the shelf life of T₁ (dry-cured with 1.8% salt) and T₂ (dry-cured with 1.8% salt + 1.0% sugar) groups were obviously longer than that of the control. TAC of control group reached 7.34 log CFU · g^-1 after 6 d, while T₁ and T₂ only rose to 6.76 (16^th day) and 6.78 (12^th day) log CFU · g^-1, respectively. TVB-N content of control group increased faster (P < 0.05) than those of T₁ and T₂. The HxR contents of T₁ and T₂ significantly decreased (P < 0.05) but showed unobvious difference in K value, ATP, AMP and IMP compared with the control. Putrescine, tyramine and spermine decreased with storage time. T₁ and T₂ groups significantly inhibited the formation of putrescine (P < 0.05). These results suggest that addition of salt and sugar significantly improves the quality of sturgeon during cold storage.