Effects of the Depuration Process on Microbiological Quality and Nutritional Composition of Mediterranean Mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck, 1819)

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn this study, the effects of the depuration period on Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis L., 1819), collected from Bandırma Harbor Area by the Sea of Marmara, were investigated. Distinctive changes were found to exist in the percentage of moisture, protein, fat, and ash content. The process of depuration was determined to have an effect on the number of total aerobic mesophilic/psychrophilic bacteria. Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio cholera, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus could not be identified during the study. The substances of aluminum, iron, zinc, copper, manganese, nickel, cadmium, chromium, lead, and potassium were determined to decrease in the Mediterranean mussel from the baseline to the end of the depuration. It was found that the process of depuration has a positive effect on alanine, phenylalanine, lysine, tyrosine, valine, leucine, and isoleucine; a negative effect on aspartic acid, glutamic acid, threonine, proline, and arginine and no effect on methionine, histidine, glycine, and serine. The total saturated fatty acids, total monounsaturated fatty acids, and total polyunsaturated fatty acids at the end of depuration were found to be 29.29%, 12.51%, and 45.57%, respectively, and the change in the amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids was found to be significant (p < 0.05).