Specific spoilage organism populations were significantly higher on retail-derived catfish in comparison to lab-filleted Delaware cultured catfish tissue. It is suggested that DNase production and protease production contribute to the spoilage of fish tissue as a result of mishandling and septic filleting being the major cause of rapid catfish tissue spoilage.

BACKGROUND: Microbial spoilage of fishery products accounts for significant financial losses, yearly on a global scale. Psychrotrophic spoilage bacteria often secrete extracellular enzymes to break down surrounding fish tissue, rendering the product unsuitable for human consumption. For a better understanding of bacterial spoilage due to enzymatic digestion of fish products, proteases in Serratia grimesii isolated from North American catfish fillets (Ictalurus punctatus) were investigated. RESULTS: Mass spectrometric evidence demonstrated that S. grimesii secretes two distinct extracellular proteases and one lipase.Protease secretion displayed broad thermostability in the 30-90 ∘ C range. The major protease-secretion (O-1) was most active under alkaline conditions and utilized manganese as a co-factor. Organic solvents significantly disrupted the efficacy of S. grimesii extracellular enzymes and, in a series of bactericidal detergents, protease activity was highest when treated with Triton X-100. Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF) significantly inhibited the enzyme activity, while protease was moderately stable under freeze-thaw and refrigerated storage. CONCLUSION: The influence of fish spoilage-related enzymes, depending on various factors, is discussed in this paper. This study will provide new insight into enzymatic spoilage and its control, which can be exploited to enhance food safety and the shelf-life of fishery products worldwide.