Inhibition of Microbial Growth by Nano-chitosan for Fresh Tilapia (Oreochromissp) Preservation

Nano-chitosan was tested as a novel preservation agent for fresh tilapia fish (Oreochromissp). The fish samples were immersed in 0.6% nano-chitosan for 30 minutes and were kept in storage at room temperature, low temperature (10-15oC), and very low temperature (2-7oC). In room temperature, nano-chitosan did not exhibit significant preservative effect to inhibit the growth of microbes to be compared to sample without nano-chitosan treatment and kept in room temperature (control). However at lower temperature, a significant difference was observed in term of decreasing fish deterioration rate for the nano-chitosan treated samples to be compared to control. The rate of deterioration was quantified using three parameter logistic model for objective comparison among treatments, based on measured parameters (total volatile base and total plate count).