The present study was undertaken to determine the shelf life of krokets made from frozen shrimp meat. Kroket samples were stored at different temperatures (4±1 ºC , -18±1 ºC). The samples were analyzed for microbiological, chemical parameters and sensory attributes.

The numbers of total aerobic mesophilic bacteria were found as 5.04 log₁₀ cfu/g on day 0. This number increased rapidly in products stored at 4±1 oC and was reached to 6.50 log10 cfu/g on day 3. In those stored at -18±1 ºC, the level showed different changes during the storage and it was determined as 6.17 log10 cfu/g, on day 18. The effect of storage period was not significant (P>0.05) on total aerobic mesophilic while the effect of storage temperature was significant (P<0.05).

The numbers of Staphylococcus-Micrococcus, coliform and mold-yeast increased continuously at 4±1 ºC. The changes at -18±1 oC was different but none were significant (P<0.05). Psychrophilic microorganisms, similarly, showed various changes during storage at -18±1 ºC. It was found that only storage temperature was effective on the numbers of psychrophilic bacteria.

pH values continuously increased in all samples during storage period (P>0.05). However, depending on the storage temperature, pH was significantly different between the samples (P<0.05). TBA and TVB-N values of the samples were affected significantly by both storage time and storage temperature (P<0.05).

As a results, our results revealed that storage period of shrimp-kroket was 3 days at 4±1 ºC and 18 days at -18±1 ºC