Ajay Mittal, Claret Shalini D’souza, Mohammad Fikry, Matsapume Detcharoen, Soottawat Benjakul, Feby Luckose, Nurul Huda, Premy Puspitawati Rahayu, Avtar Singh
The influence of different gas compositions in modified atmospheric packaging (MAP) without and with chitooligosaccharide-EGCG (CE) conjugate on storage stability of Asian hard clam (HC) meat during storage at 4 °C was studied. Microbial load of HC meat was <5 log CFU/g when packaged under MAP, regardless of treatment, up to 18 days of storage, whereas control exceeded viable bacterial count (6 log CFU/g) on day 9. The lowest microbial load, volatile bases, and lipid oxidation were obtained in HC meat pretreated with 600 ppm of CE conjugate and MAP (80% CO2/20% O2) (MAP4-CE) (p < 0.05). Correlation heatmap analysis showed that a high-CO2/low-O2 atmosphere was the primary determinant of reduced Pseudomonas growth and lipid oxidation in HC meat, whereas the CE conjugate conferred only minor oxidation and nitrogenous spoilage indices. HC packed under MAP exhibited higher cooking and drip loss, along with increased toughness and firmness, irrespective of treatment. PUFA of MAP4-CE was retained during 18 days of storage. High-CO2, with or without CE, redirected the microbial diversity toward CO2-tolerant taxa. Overall, MAP4-CE had an extended shelf-life of at least 18 days while better preserving lipid quality and delayed growth of spoilage bacteria. © 2026 by the authors.
International Center of Excellence in Seafood Science and Innovation (ICE-SSI), Faculty of Agro-Industry, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai 90110, Songkhla, Thailand; Department of Food Science, School of Life Sciences, St. Aloysius (Deemed to be University), Karnataka, Mangaluru, 575003, India; Date Palm Research Center of Excellence, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, 31982, Saudi Arabia; Division of Biological Science, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai 90110, Songkhla, Thailand; Department of Food and Nutrition, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, 02447, South Korea; Postgraduate School, Universitas Brawijaya, East Java, Malang, 65145, Indonesia; Faculty of Animal Science, Universitas Brawijaya, East Java, Malang, 65145, Indonesia
