Abstract

Groupers (Plectropomus maculatus) were harvested from holding tanks and stored in ice until assessment rated them unacceptable. Groupers were also subjected to periods (2–12 h) of storage at tropical ambient (29–31 °C) immediately after harvest but prior to cooling in ice. The storage life of grouper stored continuously in ice was 18 days. A 2-h delay before cooling in ice approximately halves the storage life and for every further hour of malstorage the shelf-life was further reduced by approximately 1 day. The total volatile basic nitrogen (TVBN) and hypoxanthine contents were found to be good indicators of freshness in groupers, which were only acceptable with contents <31 mg N 100 per g and <2.0 μmoles g–1, respectively and all unacceptable at >37 mg N 100 per g and 2.3 μmoles g–1 respectively. TMA-N was found not be a reliable indicator of freshness.