Abstract
Recent research has revealed that shrimp sensory quality may be affected by ocean acidification but we do not exactly know why. Here we conducted controlled pH exposure experiments on adult tiger shrimp, which were kept in 1000-L tanks continuously supplied with coastal seawater. We compared survival rate, carapace properties and flesh sensory properties and amino acid composition of shrimp exposed to pH 7.5 and pH 8.0 treatments for 28 days. Shrimp reared at pH 7.5 had a lower amino acid content (17.6% w/w) than those reared at pH 8.0 (19.5% w/w). Interestingly, the amino acids responsible for the umami taste, i.e. glutamate and aspartic acid, were present at significantly lower levels in the pH 7.5 than the pH 8.0 shrimp, and the pH 7.5 shrimp were also rated as less desirable in a blind quality test by 40 volunteer assessors. These results indicate that tiger shrimp may become less palatable in the future due to a lower production of some amino acids. Finally, tiger shrimp also had a lower survival rate over 28 days at pH 7.5 than at pH 8.0 (73% vs. 81%) suggesting that ocean acidification may affect both the quality and quantity of future shrimp resources.
Highlights
Quality, there is a pressing need to expand our understanding of the effects of acidification on the quality of seafood products
Tiger shrimp are farmed in the coastal and wetland regions of south Asian countries. These coastal waters are currently affected by rapid ocean acidification which may threaten or affect the health, production rates, and meat quality of future tiger shrimp
We evaluated the changes of survival, growth, amino acid concentration of flesh, and sensory quality of meat in tiger shrimps under low pH conditions compared to high pH conditions
Summary
Quality, there is a pressing need to expand our understanding of the effects of acidification on the quality of seafood products. We exposed tiger shrimps (Penaeus monodon) to pH conditions covering the present (pH 8.0) and near future (pH 7.5) average pH conditions in coastal ecosystems. Tiger shrimp are farmed in the coastal and wetland regions of south Asian countries. These coastal waters are currently affected by rapid ocean acidification which may threaten or affect the health, production rates, and meat quality of future tiger shrimp. We evaluated the changes of survival, growth, amino acid concentration of flesh, and sensory quality of meat in tiger shrimps under low pH conditions compared to high pH conditions. We hypothesized that observed differences in the taste of shrimp would be explained by the concentrations of the above amino acids
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