Acronym NA
Category
Seafood Processing
Title Soft flesh problems in farmed marine fish Programme National Programme
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source National Coordinator Ragnar Olsen Coordinator email ragnar.olsen@uit.no
Coordinator institution
UiT - The Arctic University of Norway (Norway)
Institutions involved
NA
Start year 2005 End year 2012 Funding (€) € 291,300 Website https://prosjektbanken.forskningsradet.no/project/FORISS/164809?Kilde=FORISS&distribution=Ar&chart=bar&calcType=funding&Sprak=no&sortBy=date&sortOrder=desc&resultCount=30&offset=0&ProgAkt.3=MAT-N%C3%A6ringsmidler Summary Several factors such as the amount and quality of the feed, harvesting and slaughtering methods, and storage time after slaughter, can affect both technological and sensory properties of the fish fillet. Examples of negative properties that may be found both in wild and farmed fish, are too soft muscle and fillet gaping. The softening of the muscle makes it difficult to fillet the fish and the results are low yield and products of inferior sensory quality of reduced value. Marine species like codfish appears to be particular prone to softening and gaping. Extensive flesh softening often coupled with pale muscle, has been noticed in products of Atlantic salmon as well. After slaughter, farmed fish show more severe structural alterations including pathological features such as fibre loss and loss of oriented fibre structures in the muscle tissue, than the wild counterparts. High numbers of inflammatory cells such as lymphocytes and macrophages, and fibroblasts have also been observed in the muscle. It is not known if the increased degradations are due to changes in physiochemical properties of the muscle or only changes in the amounts of enzymes or inhibitors. Neither is it known if the degradation enzymes are endogenous to the muscle fibres or originate from cells in connective surrounding the muscle fibres. Our hypothesis is that severe husbandry stress or exhaustion during the slaughtering procedure, may cause influx of inflammatory cells, activation of endogenous systems and cause pathological type of (oxidative) changes which may result in more severe structural degradation and soft muscle flesh. To better understand these mechanisms we will study proteolytic enzymes (matrix metalloproteinases and cathepsins), enzymatic degradation and peroxidation in muscle of cod. The results from the study may suggest ways through husbandry practice including slaughtering procedures, to reduce the soft flesh problems in farmed fish.
Keywords
Process efficiency;
Fish products;
Fish quality;
Cod;
Fish;
Slaughtering systems ;
Marine Region
76
Not associated to marine areas
0
Marine Region Map
