Abstract
Cranial spiking (CS) is among the most popular slaughtering methods for delaying the rigor mortis progress of fish muscles. However, it may cause a convulsion (subsequently referred to as delayed convulsion), which undermines the meat quality and taste. This study aimed to elucidate the mechanism underlying the delayed convulsion and examine its influence on ATP consumption. Ten carps, nine tilapias, ten rainbow trouts, two ayus, three greenling, thirty-five red seabreams, two striped jack and two stone flounders underwent CS around the medulla oblongata area, which induced different delayed convulsion profiles specific to each species. To investigate the norepinephrine (NE) actions related to delayed convulsion, 27 red seabreams, a representative fish species that exhibits delayed convulsion, were treated with a monoamine-depleting agent, reserpine, or with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor, pargyline, two hours before CS. Spinal cord destruction (SCD) was employed to completely prevent spinal cord functions of the fish in another group. Compared with the control group (CS only), the reserpine, pargyline, and SCD groups showed significantly inhibited delayed convulsion and ATP consumption. This suggests that delayed convulsion is the main ATP-consuming response. Our findings suggest that delayed clonic convulsion in red seabreams is associated with the rapid decrease in spinal cord NE levels, which triggered the rebound motor neuron hyperactivity.
Highlights
Sashimi is the Japanese term used for raw meat of fishes and shellfishes that have gained worldwide recognition [1,2]
We examined the latency and magnitude of delayed convulsion in fishes that were cultivated in freshwater or saltwater environments as follows: freshwater and saltwater
Our findings indicated that saltwater fish species presented more often, stronger, and longer delayed convulsions
Summary
Sashimi is the Japanese term used for raw meat of fishes and shellfishes that have gained worldwide recognition [1,2]. In Japan, cranial spiking (CS) around the medulla oblongata (hindbrain region) is among the most widely adopted methods and is known as efficient with respect to freshness preservation and meat texture [3,4] This procedure can cause a drastic convulsion at 2–20 postoperative minutes in several fish species, such as Kahawai (Arripis trutta) [5] and horse mackerel (Trachurus japonicus) [6]. This convulsion causes rapid ATP consumption in muscle, which could lead to deterioration of the fish freshness and flesh texture [7], the physiological mechanisms for the convulsion are still ambiguous. In livestock, pithing has been shown to cause immediate tonic convulsion, followed by clonic convulsions lasting for up to a few minutes [10,11]
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