Extractive component changes in the foot muscle of live small abalone during storage

Abstract

Changes in the freshness indices and extractive components in the foot muscle of live small abalone Haliotis diversicolor during storage at 5∞C, 15∞C, and 25∞C were investigated. The pH values declined with storage time. Volatile basic nitrogen and the K-value increased gradually with storage time at 15∞C and 25∞C, but changes were small at 5∞C. The onset of initial decompo- sition of samples was observed after 3.5 days at 5∞C, after 2.5 days at 15∞C, and after one day at 25∞C. Adenosine triphosphate and adenosine diphosphate degraded rapidly within the early days of storage. In contrast, levels of adenosine monophosphate increased and exhibited prolonged accu- mulation throughout the storage period. The total amount of free amino acids increased markedly during storage. The dominant free amino acids, such as taurine, glutamic acid, glycine, alanine, and arginine, also increased after storage.