Abstract
This study was carried out to investigate incidences of halotolerant and halophilic histamine-forming bacteria which grew in broth containing 12 percent sodium chloride in the commercial marine fish. These two groups of bacteria were called HH bacteria in this paper. The incidence was almost 30 percent. Fifty-seven percent of HH bacteria isolated from the fish were Gram positive cocci and identical with genera Staphylococcus and Micrococcus. Vibrio was dominant genus in Gram negative HH bacteria. Staphylococcus No. 101, a strain of HH bacteria isolated from sardine, was inoculated into ordinary and dark meat infusions of sardine containing 12 percent sodium chloride and incubated at 30t for 6 days. Histamine was detected in ordinary and dark meat infusions after 3 days. The amount of histamine detected in ordinary meat and dark meat infusions were 18.9, ug/ml and 10.9.μg/ml at third day, and 98.7μg/ml and 28.9μg/ml at sixth day, respectively. HH bacteria such as strain No. 101 seemed to produce histamine during curing and ripening of the producing process of the rice-bran pickles of sardine when the pickles were produced using the sardine in which HH bacteria occurred.
