Quality indicators of cultured Newfoundland blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) during storage on ice: microbial growth, pH, lipid oxidation, chemical composition characteristics, and microbial fatty acid contents.

To devise proper strategies to evaluate and maintain the quality of cultured blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) during storage on ice, this study examined the potential use of microbial growth, pH, lipid oxidation, and composition characteristics as quality indicators. It also evaluated the use of individual (i15:0, ai15:0, i16:0, ai16:0, i17:0, ai17:0, 17:0) and total bacterial fatty acid contents as a rapid method to examine the microbial quality of stored mussels. Linear regression analyses of the storage period of mussels vs various quality indicators indicated that the strongest correlation was between the storage period and microbial growth (r = 0.973, p < 0.0001) followed by the microbial fatty acid ai15:0 content (r = 0.903, p < 0.0001) and ash content (r = 0.819, p = 0.0002). All other correlations between the storage period and quality indicators were moderate (r = 0.500-0.700 and p < 0.05), poor (r < 0.500 and p > 0.05), or negative (r = -0.657 and p = 0.027).