Quality Changes of Cultivated Saccharina latissima as Influenced by Preservation Method During Short Term Storage

Abstract

Post-harvest changes in the quality of cut and whole S. latissima upon 23 days storage with or without acidification at different temperatures were studied by bacterial counts, amino acids composition, and 1H-NMR profiling of extracted metabolites. Lowering the temperature inhibited bacterial growth, and seaweed stored 10 days at 4°C had the same bacterial counts as seaweed stored 2 days at room temperature. Cutting reduced the bacterial degradation of mannitol, free amino acids, and other low molecular components but made proteins and carbohydrates more available for enzymatic hydrolysis. Acidification hindered microbial growth and reduced degradation of amino acids and other components.