The after catch quality decrease of squid, Loligo plei, was evaluated, comparing two storage treatments: contact and non-contact with ice. he squids were evaluated for their sensory, inistrumental colour and psychrotrophic bacterial count changes. A principal component analysis of the sensory data indicated that the squid quality markedly decreased after 7 days of storage, in both treatments. The instrumental colour analysis showed that the red and yellow colours of the squid skin increased with time in both treatments, while in the muscle, the intensify of the red and yellow colours increased more in the non-contact than in the contact with ice treatment. The results of the sensory and instrumental colour analyses were highly correlated, both being adequate for squid quality evaluation. The storage methods did not affect the development of bacterial counts, which in both treatments were below 10(6) cfu/g of muscle after 16 days of storage. The results showed that in both treatments the end of the shefl-life of L, plei squid was determined by the loss of its sensory quality. The packaging of the squids resulted in more intense changes in the characteristic colour of the squid muscle, and did not promote a significant reduction in microbial growth. Thus the non-contact ice storage method presented no advantages when compared with the contact ice storage method with respect to the quality preservation of L. plei tinder laboratory conditions. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.3512129