Nucleotide degradation in sardine (Sardina pilchardus) stored in different storage condition at 4°C

Abstract

Degradation products of nucleotide in sardine stored up to 15 days in stored in boxes without ice,vacuum package (VP) and modified atmosphere package (MAP) at 4oC were investigated using arapid HPLC method. Nucleotide degradation was more rapid in sardine stored in air than those storedin MAP and VP. The lowest value from production of ATP derivatives were observed in sardine heldin MAP, followed by VP. ATP content was not detected under the three conditions. AMP and ADPlevels were less than 0.2 µmol/g on day 0 in all cases. The shelf-life of fish stored in MAP was 12days according to sensory assessment, at which the content of IMP, Hx and Ino were approximately0.2, 0.7 and 0.6 µmoles/g, respectively. Although IMP and Ino showed fluctuations under all ofstorage conditions, Hx content increased linearly with storage time. Thus, it might be used as a fresh-ness indicator for sardine stored under MAP and VP. The maximum levels of Hx compound were0.79 µmoles/g for MAP and 0.75 µmoles/g for VP at day 15, respectively.