Determination of microbiological quality of boiled crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus) samples treated with chitosan

Coating crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus) meat samples with chitosan solution could be an effective approach to limit microbiological spoilage. During the 18-day cold storage period at 2°C±1, mesophilic aerobic bacteria (MABc), psychrophilic bacteria (PBc), yeast mold count (YMc), anaerobic bacteria (AnBc), and Enterobacteriaceae growth in the samples coated with chitosan (0.5% and 1%) and also control group samples were tested. Crayfish samples coated with chitosan (0.5% and 1%) had a lower TMABc (6.58 to 4.60 log CFU/g: up to 30.09%), TPBc (3.77 to 1.99 log CFU/g: up to 47.21%), TYMc (1.84 to 1.27 log CFU/g: up to 30.97%), TAnBc (3.69 to 1.88 log CFU/g: up to 49.05%), and Enterobacteriaceae (3.49 to 2.60 log CFU/g: up to 25.50%) counts as compared with control group samples at 2°C±1. The results particularly based on mesophilic anaerobic bacteria suggested that the application would be a promising approach to limit microbial growth and provide food safety for boiled crayfish meat samples.