Fish Microbiology and Quality Assurance

Unit 2 - Growth and survival of microorganisms in food

2.2 Extrinsic parameters

Extrinsic parameters refer to those properties of the environment to which the food is exposed. This includes the characteristics of the storage environment of the food which have profound effect on the food as well as the microorganisms associated with the food. The intrinsic factors of the food are influenced by the conditions of storage environment, and there by affect the quality of food. The environmental factors which have influence on the food associated microorganisms are;

• Storage temperature
• Relative humidity of storage environment
• Presence or absence of gases
• Presence and activities of other microorganisms.