Histamine production by Enterobacter aerogenes in tuna dumpling stuffing at various storage temperatures

Enterobacter aerogenes was studied for its growth, and promoting the formation of total volatile base nitrogen (TVBN) and histamine in tuna dumpling stuffing stored at various temperatures from -20 degrees C to 37 degrees C. The bacterial number rapidly increased in low (2.0 log CFU/g) or high (5.0 log CFU/g) inoculated concentrations at temperature above 15 degrees C and reached the highest bacterial count at 37 degrees C. In addition, the low spiked sample stored at 37 degrees C for 12 h and the high spiked sample stored at 25 and 37 degrees C for 12 h, formed histamine at above 50 mg/100 g of the potential hazard level in most illness cases. However, bacterial growth was controlled by cold storage of the samples at 4 degrees C or below, but histamine formation was stopped only by frozen storage. Once the frozen stuffing samples were thawed and stored at 25 degrees C, histamine started to accumulate rapidly. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.