Effects of the curcumin-mediated photodynamic inactivation on the quality of cooked oysters with Vibrio parahaemolyticus during storage at different temperature.

Photodynamic inactivation (PDI) is a promising method with multiple targets to inactivate bacteria on food using visible light. Inactivation potency of the curcumin-mediated blue light-emitting diode (LED) PDI against the pathogen Vibrio parahaemolyticus on cooked oysters and its effects on the storage quality were investigated by the microbiological, physical, chemical and histological methods during storage at 4 °C, 10 °C and 25 °C. Results showed that the PDI treatment obviously inhibited the recovery of V. parahaemolyticus on oysters during storage, and the maximal difference attained >1.0 Log CFU/g (> 90%) compared to control stored at 10 °C and 25 °C. Meanwhile, it displayed a potent ability (p < 0.05) to restrain the decrease of pH values, reduce the production of total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N), suppress the lipids oxidation, as well as retard the changes of color difference of the oysters. In addition, the PDI effectively maintained the integrity and initial attachments of muscle fibers, and hence decreased the loss of water in myofibrillar space and the texture softening of oysters during storage. On this basis, this study facilitates the understanding of the potency of bacterial inactivation and food preservation of PDI, and hence pave the way for its application in food industry.