Effects of Soluble Gas Stabilisation, Modified Atmosphere, Gas to Product Volume Ratio and Storage on the Microbiological and Sensory Characteristics of Ready-to-Eat Shrimp (Pandalus borealis)

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Abstract
The effects of storage time, modified atmospheres (30% or 60% CO2), soluble gas stabilisation and gas to product volume (g/p) ratio were investigated on the microbiological and sensory characteristics of cooked, peeled and brined ready-to-eat (RTE) deep-water shrimps (Pandalus borealis). Soluble gas stabilisation (SGS) treatment prior to packaging (2h) increased the CO2 content in the packaged shrimp and counteracted package collapse, even at low g/p ratios (0.66). SGS treatment reduced significantly (P 0.01) the aerobic plate count and psychrotrophic count. The increase of CO2 levels during modified atmosphere (MA) packaging and the application of SGS significantly enhanced (P 0.01) the sensory quality of the shrimps. The exudates in the packages (%) were significantly reduced (P 0.01) when applying SGS treatment. Therefore, SGS treatment in combination with MA packaging can be used successfully on RTE shrimps to reduce the package volume and to improve the microbiological and sensory characteristics.