TECNOLOGIA E CONTROLLO MICROBIOLOGICO DELLA “MRECA”, ALIMENTO TRADIZIONALE A BASE DI MUGIL CEPHALUS. [Technological optimisation and microbiological control of “Mreca”: a Sardinian traditional food based on Mugil cephalus]

Mreca is a traditional food from Sardinia. It is made
with Mugil cephalus traditionally prepared by using the
Halimione portulacoides shrub as a casing during storage.
Mreca, thus produced, is storable only for a few days. For
this reason it has become mandatory to develop a new
industrial process to lengthen the shelf life of this product. In
this work, an industrial process transformation was applied
that took into account traditional parameters such as the
use of H. portulacoides and implemented new actions as
appropriate heat treatments and vacuum packaging. In all
industrial Mreca samples hygiene and safety parameters
were evaluated.
The results showed the eff ectiveness of the heat treatments
carried out on M. cephalus during the preparation of Mreca
and the potential recontamination by H. portulacoides
during the packaging and storage.