Instrumental Textural Changes in Raw White Shrimp During Iced Storage

Abstract

The general objective of this work was to evaluate the changes in the texture of raw white shrimp, stored whole in ice for up to 14 days, by instrumental texture analysis of the flesh after peeling off the carapace. Effect of test method (relaxation, compression, texture profile analysis, cutting, and penetration tests), test speed (0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 mm/s), and test position on sample (second, third, and fourth segments of abdominal musculature) were studied to measure the textural attributes of shrimp. Mechanical parameters (force at yield point, stiffness, toughness, and shear/penetration work) increased significantly during the 14 days of storage. Shrimp muscle maintained firm texture up to 4 days of storage after harvesting. At that time, the texture became soft, stiffness of the skin layer increased, and then pH values in the shrimp reached a value higher than 7 (alkaline). A linear model with a high coefficient of determination (R2 > 0.75, for all parameters obtained from the penetration test with the spherical probe) described adequately the mechanical properties of iced shrimp during storage. Comparing several methods, the penetration test on the second flesh segment using a spherical probe at a speed of 0.1 mm/s and using penetration work as a parameter gave the best results to clearly indicate the changes in textural properties of iced shrimp with a high correlation coefficient during storage time (R2 = 0.83), while other test methods failed to provide an indication of deterioration.