Microbiological indicators of frozen fish and sensitivity of psychrotrophic microflora to antibiotics in the absence and presence of residual amounts of antibacterial drugs

Abstract

Fish belongs to perishable food that requires appropriate temperature storage regimes to stop the flow of biochemical and microbiological processes. During storage of fish in the conditions of refrigerating chambers, cold-loving – psychrotrophic microflora dominates, which causes biochemical and organoleptic changes and affects sanitary and hygienic parameters. In the field of fish farming for the treatment and prevention of various diseases, antibacterial drugs are widely used. In frozen fish, which is imported into Ukraine, determination of the presence of residual amounts of antibacterial drugs is not carried out. The purpose of work was to investigate microbiological indicators of frozen fish imported into Ukraine, to ide ntify the generic composition of psychrotrophic microflora, isolated from frozen fish in the absence and with the content of residual amounts of antibacterial drugs and to determine the sensitivity of the isolated microflora to antibiotics. It was found that frozen fish with the presence of antibacterial residues, on average about two orders is less contaminated with the microflora. Regardless of the presence or absence of antibiotics in frozen fish, the basis of its microflora are psychrotrophic microorganisms, which predominate amount of mesophilic bacteria in 1.3 – 1.6 times. It was found that, subject to the presence in the frozen fish of residual quantities of antibacterial drugs, a resistant psychrotrophic microflora is formed to detected antibiotics. As a result, a pathway for the transfer of resistant microorganisms and resistance genes from fish to consumers can take shape. Therefore, in order to prevent the consumption of fish with antibiotic residues, it is necessary to monitor their amount in fish throughout the chain from “production to sales in the trade network”.