Abstract:To understand the microbial colony characteristics of different types of precooked dishes，four categories of commercially available precooked dishes with fish，shrimp，chicken，and pork were analyzed using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry（MALDI-TOF MS）to determine microbial detection status and colony features.Results showed that a total of 258 credible microbial strains belonging to 86 species were detected，with an identification rate of 94.51%. Among them，the top three microorganisms in terms of strain count were Kocuria rhizophila（28 strains），Macrococcus caseolyticus（28 strains），and Lactococcus garvieae（10 strains），accounting for 10.85%，10.85%and 3.88%，Some microorganisms，such as Macrococcus caseolyticus，were detected in all four types of precooked dishes. The distribution and quantity of microbial flora varied among different precooked dishes. Fish-based precooked dishes had a higher number and variety of detected microorganisms than the other three categories. Enterococcus faecium was only detected in shrimp-based precooked dishes，while Chryseobacterium indologenes was exclusively found in chicken-based ones.This study analyzed the microbial colony characteristics of different precooked dishes using MALDI-TOF MS，which could serve as a supplement to national standard methods and provide a reference for food safety risk monitoring，early warning，and the formulation of microbe-related standards for precooked dishes.