Muscle activity at slaughter: I. Changes in flesh colour and gaping in rainbow trout
2000; Elsevier BV; Volume: 182; Issue: 3-4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/s0044-8486(99)00273-2
ISSN1873-5622
AutoresDavid Robb, S. Kestin, P. D. Warriss,
Tópico(s)Physiological and biochemical adaptations
ResumoHigh activity at slaughter is known to cause changes to the muscle biochemistry in terms of muscle pH and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content. This experiment looked at how the muscle activity may affect the flesh quality of fish. Electro-stimulation of a carcass immediately after death can be used as a model for high levels of muscle activity prior to death. This experiment showed that electro-stimulation of 1.5 kg rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) immediately after slaughter not only resulted in short times to rigor, but that the flesh colour was affected. The flesh became significantly lighter (P<0.001), less red (P<0.001) and had higher chroma (P<0.001) as measured by the CIE [CIE, 1976. 18th Session, London, U.K., Sept. 1975. CIE Publication 36, Paris, France.] L*a*b* system, and the Roche colour card score was lowered (P<0.01) compared to flesh from fish that had shown very low levels of activity before slaughter and were not electro-stimulated after death. The fillets were also more susceptible to gaping following the post-mortem stimulation (P<0.001). This indicated that electro-stimulation after death reduces the quality of the flesh.
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