## 3 Results and Discussion
### Microbiological Quality Parameters  
The results of the microbiological analysis were shown in Table 2. Both mesophilic (MMC) and psychrophilic microbial count (PMC) were approximately 4 log CFU/g in all bottarga samples analyzed. Slightly higher microbial concentrations were reported in previous research conducted on Italian/Sardinian Bottarga [10]; on the contrary, a much lower count (1.23 log CFU/g) has been determined in similar products from Caspian fish [26]. Spoilage microorganisms indicative of environmental contamination, such as Clostrtia, yeasts, and molds, were not found in the samples. This result suggested that the significant number of the microbial population could be related to the intrinsic characteristics of the roe, such as pH and Aw, as well as to the technology used to make the product. In fact, the pH and the W\({}_{\text{a}}\) of the bottarga and the manufacturing technologies, which involve the use of the hands, make the product favorable to microbial growth. Moreover, the presence of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) in all the samples analyzed suggested some improper applications of hygienic procedures. The potential \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c} \hline
**Items** & **BWC** & & **BEC** & \\ \hline  & * Mean & SD & * Mean & SD \\ pH & 5.30 & 0.3 & 5.45 & 0.12 \\ Water activity (Wa) & 0.90 & 0.46 & 0.91 & 0.62 \\ Proteins (\%) & 40.48 & 1.73 & 37.98 & 0.46 \\ Fat (\%) & 17.88 & 7.32 & 19.33 & 5.10 \\ Carbohydrates (\%) & \textless{}0.1 & & \textless{}0.1 & \\ Calcium (mg/Kg) & 455.80 & 290.52 & 413.25 & 161.63 \\ Potassium (\%) & 0.30 & 0.05 & 0.29 & 0.02 \\ Sodium (\%) & 0.71 & 0.53 & 0.69 & 0.38 \\ Total phosphorus (\%) & 0.66 & 0.09 & 0.61 & 0.29 \\ Cholesterol (mg/100 g) & 416.80 & 88.68 & 389.50 & 46.14 \\ Energy value (Kcal/100 g) & 322.84 & 67.41 & 325.83 & 45.01 \\ \hline \end{tabular}  
*, average of six values: three replicates (one sample from three different trays) for two repetitions of each analysis, SD, standard deviation.  
\end{table} 
Table 1: Physico-chemical parameters (expressed as mean \(\pm\) SD) of bottarga samples come from the west (BWC) and east (BEC) coast. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c} \hline
**Microbial Groups** & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**BWC**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**BEC**} \\ \hline  & * Log cfu/g & SD & * Log cfu/g & SD \\ PTMC at 5 \({}^{\circ}\)C & 4.41 & 0.33 & 4.92 & 0.81 \\ MTMC at 30 \({}^{\circ}\)C & 3.91 & 0.65 & 4.33 & 0.75 \\ Presumptive enterobacteria & 2.01 & 0.2 & \textless{}10 & - \\ Fecal coliforms (MPN/ cfu) & \textless{}3 & - & \textless{}3 & - \\ _Escherichia coli_ (MPN/ cfu) & - & - & - & - \\ CN staphylococci & 4.59 & 0.87 & 4.06 & 0.61 \\ CP staphylococci & 1.08 & 0.23 & \textless{}10 & - \\ _Listeria_ & (-) & - & (-) & - \\ Spore of clostridia & \textless{}3 & - & \textless{}3 & - \\ (MPN/ cfu) & \textless{}10 & - & \textless{}10 & - \\ Years and molds & \textless{}10 & - & \textless{}10 & - \\ \hline \end{tabular}  
*, average of six values: three replicates (one sample from three different trays) for two repetitions of each analysis, PTMC, psychrophilic (PMC) microbial count; (MTMC) mesophilic microbial count; MPN, most probable number methods; CN staphylococci, coagulase-negative staphylococci, CP staphylococci, coagulase-positive staphylococci, CFU, colony-forming unit; SD, standard deviation.  
\end{table} 
Table 2: Viable microbial groups in bottarga samples come from the west (BWC) and east (BEC) coasts. pathogens coagulase positive staphylococci (CPS) were not determined in the east coast samples and in very low concentrations in the west coast samples, meeting the safety criteria [27]. In fact, current food law requires the determination of staphylococcal enterotoxins when the presence of CP staphylococci exceeds \(10^{5}\) CFU/gr. In addition, presumptive pathogens, such as _Listeria_ and _E. coli_, were found to be absent in all the samples analyzed. Other researchers found the presence of bacteria, albeit at low levels, in grey mullet roe from Greece [8]. [PERSON] et al.