Investigating the quality changes and shelf life of vacuum shrink-packaged raw and steam-cooked blue crabs under cold storage

This study aimed to determine the quality changes and shelf life of raw and steam-cooked blue crab meat caught in the DALKO Fisheries Cooperative processing plant in the Köyceğiz Dalyan region. Both fresh and cooked crabs were taken from DALKO Fisheries Cooperative and brought to the laboratory under cold chain conditions. After the initial analyses (sensory, chemical, microbiological, and nutrient content) were made for the fresh and cooked blue crabs, the remaining samples were shrink packed. Packaged samples were kept under refrigerator (+/- 4ºC ±1) conditions and shelf-life analyses were carried out during cold storage. The results determined fresh and cooked crabs' initial nutritional values (protein, lipid, moisture, ash) as 16.22%, 1.06%, 81.17%, 1.45%, and 17.13%, 0.94%, 79.88%, 1.88%, respectively. At the end of storage, these values were determined as 15.88%, 1.51%, 80.18%, 1.67%, and 17.83%, 1.06%, 78.65%, and 2.13% for fresh and cooked crabs, respectively. According to the sensory and microbiological analysis results, the consumable limit values were exceeded on the sixth day for fresh samples and the eighth day for cooked samples. When sensory and microbiological analyses were considered, it was determined that the fresh crabs have a shelf life of 4 days and cooked crabs have six days in vacuum-packaged refrigerator conditions.