Characterization of Traditional Croatian Household-Produced Dry-Fermented Sausages.

Characterization of five types of traditional Croatian dry-fermented sausages produced by family farms was performed via identification of superficial mycobiota, physicochemical, sensory, instrumental color, fatty acids & fat quality indices. Detailed characterization of these sausages aimed to achieve standardization of their production and composition and to establish and/or improve their specification protocols. Traditional sausages varied significantly (p < 0.05) in all analyzed parameters except for the number of mold isolates. Sausages coming from eastern Croatia had a greater mold species diversity, with the highest number of isolated mycotoxigenic species in Slavonian domestic sausage. Sensory evaluation showed good acceptability of all sausages. According to health recommendations, Kulenova Seka showed the most representable values for most of fat quality indices. The results suggest the need for certain modifications in fat & fatty acid composition and, to a lesser extent, in salt content, however not at the expense of product safety, quality and acceptability.

Seasonal Changes in Free Amino Acid and Fatty Acid Compositions of Sardines, Sardina pilchardus (Walbaum, 1792): Implications for Nutrition.

The aim of this study was to clarify the seasonal variation in the proximate composition of the free amino acid (AA) and fatty acid (FA) profiles of the European sardine (Sardina pilchardus) from the Adriatic Sea and to better understand the nutritive value needed to organize more effective industrial processing, aquaculture use and to ensure the health benefits for consumers through available bioactive compounds such as omega-3 FA and essential AA. The lipid content ranged from 1.18 to 10.58% during the year, being the highest from July to September. For the first time, this paper reports the monthly variation in AA content in sardines. The highest total AA content was measured during the winter period, from January (843 mg/100 g fillet) to March (953 mg/100 g) with histidine, arginine and threonine being the most dominant. The total content of essential free AA (histidine, threonine, valine, methionine, isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine, tryptophan and lysine) ranged from 137 to 571 mg/100 g fillet (wet weight), recorded in May and March, respectively. The fatty acid profile analyses revealed the major saturated FA as palmitic (C16:0), followed by myristic (C14:0), and stearic (C18:0) acids, and the predominant monosaturated FA as oleic (C18:1n-9) and palmitoleic (C16:1n-7). The high concentrations of polyunsaturated FA in sardines were omega-3 FA, particularly eicosapentaenoic (EPA; 20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic (DHA; 20:6n-3) FA. From July to September, their content was the highest (>3.5 g/100 g of sardine fillets), confirming that these species are excellent sources of bioactive lipids.

Biogenic amines in selected foods of animal origin obtained from the Croatian retail market.

This study aimed to investigate the presence of eight biogenic amines (BAs): tryptamine (TRP), phenylethylamine (PHE), putrescine (PUT), cadaverine (CAD), histamine (HIS), tyramine (TYR), spermidine (SPD) and spermine (SPM) in cheese, fish & fishery products and meat & meat products obtained from the Croatian retail market. A selective and robust method of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with diode array detection (DAD) was applied for the determination of BAs in a total of 91 samples in accordance with the performance criteria outlined in the European legislation. A high inter- and intra-food group variability of the amounts of BAs was observed. In the analysed samples, the most represented amines were TYR, HIS, CAD and PUT. Based on the highest content of the most toxic BAs (HIS and TYR) and consequential food safety concerns, the studied food groups can be ranked in the following order: cheese (HIS up to 106.4 mg/kg; TYR up to 206.6 mg/kg), fish &fishery products (HIS up to 98.8 mg/kg; TYR up to 47.9 mg/kg), and meat & meat products (HIS up to 20.0 mg/kg; TYR up to 117.5 mg/kg). The total BA content was significantly higher (p < .05) in fermented in comparison with other food. The study aimed to contribute to the knowledge on BA toxicity and food quality, as well as to support the indispensable future studies of consumption data and exposure assessment, to the end of defining allowable BA concentrations in food.

A geographical information system for the management of the aquaculture data in the Adriatic Sea - the Strengthening of Centres for Aquaculture Production and Safety surveillance in the Adriatic countries experience: Present capabilities, tools and functions.

The European Commission (EC) regulation no. 854/2004 requires a systematic monitoring of chemical and microbiological contaminants in live bivalve molluscs, live echinoderms, live tunicates and live marine gastropods for human consumption through surveillance plans to be implemented in all European Union (EU) countries.A consortium of five Adriatic countries was set up in the framework of the Instrument of Pre-accession Assistance Adriatic Cross-border Cooperation Programme (IPA Adriatic CBC) 2007- 2013 with the aim of collecting data and distribute information on harvesting and production in mollusc areas. A web-based geographical information system (GIS) application was developed to support the partners to manage data and to make these data available to final users, policy makers and to risk assessors. The GIS for the Strengthening of Centres for Aquaculture Production and Safety surveillance in the Adriatic countries (CAPS2) is divided into two levels, the national and the supranational one, and it distributes spatial and epidemiological information coming from various data acquisition and management sites. The great innovation is the possibility for each country to use online drawing, modifying and change of the geographic areas according to national surveillance needs. Currently it hosts data coming from about 230 production and relay areas with more than 29,478 laboratory tests performed on collected samples since August 2014. Data collected are used by each national competent authority to classify production or relay areas according to the EC regulation mentioned and to conduct risk assessment studies to evaluate the level of consumers' exposure to contaminants in the consumption of bivalve mollusc products.

Role of biogenic amines in the post-mortem migration of Anisakis pegreffii (Nematoda: Anisakidae Dujardin, 1845) larvae into fish fillets.

Infective third-stage larvae (L3) of nematode Anisakis spp. have been recognized as one of the major food-borne threats in lightly processed fish products in Europe, particularly in the Mediterranean region. Therefore, the effect of different storage temperatures of fish on larval post-mortem migration from visceral cavity into fillets is an important parameter to take into account when evaluating the risk for consumer safety. The European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) were caught during fishing season, a subsample of fillets was checked for the presence of Anisakis larvae at capture (mean abundance=0.07), and the rest was stored at four different temperatures (-18, 0, 4 and 22°C) in order to count migrating larvae and measure the production of biogenic amines over a period of time. Larvae were identified by morphological features and molecular tools. Post-mortem migration was observed in fillets stored at 0 and 4°C after three and five days, respectively, but not at 22 and -18°C. In case of storage at 22°C for two days, at the onset of putrefaction of the visceral organs, larvae migrated out of the visceral cavity towards the fish surface. Measured pH and biogenic amine profile during storage indicated that certain biochemical conditions trigger larval migration into fillets. Likewise, migration was observed at pH ~6.4 when sensory degradation of the fish was markedly visible. Although larval migration was delayed for approximately four days at a temperature of <4°C the correlation between pH and abundance of A. pegreffii larvae in the fillet was high and statistically significant at both 0 (r=0.998, p<0.01) and 4°C (r=0.946, p<0.05). Out of eight biogenic amines measured, cadaverine and putrescine levels correlated the most with the post-mortem migration at 4°C, while tyramine levels were significant at both temperatures.

As, Cd, Hg and Pb in four edible shellfish species from breeding and harvesting areas along the eastern Adriatic Coast, Croatia.

Four species of shellfish (Mytilus galloprovincialis, Ostrea edulis, Chlamis varia and Venus verrucosa) were collected during the autumn 2011 and spring 2012 along the eastern Adriatic coast from six shellfish harvesting areas (all species) and 13 breeding sampling areas (mussels) to assess As, Cd, Hg and Pb levels and the human risks of shellfish consumption. The mean metal concentrations (wet weight) in the examined species ranged from 1.420 to 9.575mg/kg for As, 0.034 to 1.270 for Cd, 0.005 to 0.680 for Hg and 0.140 to 2.072 for Pb. Examination of the spatial distribution of As, Cd, Hg and Pb revealed statistically significant differences among the studied areas. Since the concentrations were below the maximum prescribed by the laws of the EU and Croatia (the concentrations slightly exceeded the upper limits for three samples; Pb, Cd and Hg) and the hazard index, (HI) for Cd, Hg and Pb were below 1 and the target cancer risk (TR) for As was lower than 1×10(-6), there is no human health risk of consumption of shellfish from Croatian waters.

Development and application of quality index method scheme in a shelf-life study of wild and fish farm affected bogue (Boops boops, L.).

UNLABELLED: Quality index method scheme was developed for raw bogue (Boops boops) and evaluated it in a shelf-life study, using samples from wild fish aggregations at fish farms (BF) and from area not influenced by the fish farms (BW). Different environment influenced the shelf life of bogues; thus the maximum ice storage, evaluated from cooked samples, was found to be 17 d for BF and 12 d for BW. The calculated quality indexes (QIs) evolved linearly with storage time on ice (QI(BF) = 0.968x + 0.583, R(2) = 0.947, Std. Err. Est. = 1.41; QI(BW) = 1.212x + 0.474, R(2) = 0.972, Std. Err. Est. = 0.95). The multivariable analysis was used to identify the most effective variables during spoilage evolution. The sum of all demerit points showed higher correlation (R > 0.99) then any single parameters itself, indicating that the individual parameters could not replace the usage of 20 demerit points QIM scoring scheme in sensory assessment. The impact of farming cages was observed in fat (BF > 19%; BW < 2%) and water content (BF = 55%; BW = 77%) of bogues, but also in pH, dielectric properties, thiobarbituric acid index, and volatile amine changes. High correlations of these parameters with storage time and sensory assessment were observed. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The catch landings of bogue make this species very important in the Mediterranean fishery production. The effect of finfish farms makes individual fish samples of this species different in size and chemical content, thus changing the rate and in which their postmortem changes occur. The practical use of the article is a new developed and species adopted descriptive scheme for bogue, ready to use for scientific and industrial freshness assessment providing the information on fish quality and its remaining shelf life in ice, taking into account the environmental conditions such as catching ground.