Effects of Tea Polyphenol Treatments on the Quality and Microbiota of Crisp Grass Carp Fillets during Storage at 4 °C

We investigated the effects of tea polyphenol treatments on the quality and microbiota of crisp grass carp fillets during cold storage at 4 °C. Changes in the total viable count (TVC) and total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N) of fillets were measured. The microbiota of the crisp grass carp was analyzed using high-throughput sequencing technique. The results indicated that tea polyphenol treatments inhibited bacterial growth and reduced TVB-N values of fish fillets, and subsequently extended their shelf life by 6 days. The high-throughput sequencing result showed that Pseudomonas was the most abundant bacteria in tea polyphenol-treated fish fillets at the end of shelf life, while Pseudomonas and Aeromonas were the most abundant bacteria in control samples. These findings suggested that tea polyphenol treatments could be used in future to extend the shelf life of crisp grass carp fillets and alter the bacterial communities responsible for spoiling fish.