Abstract
The characteristics of a cultured pearl are influenced by two kinds of pearl oysters. One is the donor pearl oyster, which provides a small piece of mantle to be transplanted, and the other is the recipient pearl oyster, in which the pearl nucleus and a small piece of mantle are transplanted. Generally, the brightness, luster, and color of pearls are affected by the donor oyster, while the thickness of nacre is affected by the recipient oyster. Previously, we have indicated that the sex of recipient pearl oyster directly affects the quality of pearl, and the optical characteristics measured by FT-IR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) of pearl produced from male and female pearl oysters significantly differ (Iwai et al. Aquaculture 437:333–338, 2015). Moreover, using the various strains of Akoya pearl oyster as recipient and the same donor oyster, the produced Akoya pearl had different spectra for each strain. Also, besides the culture of the Akoya pearl oyster, the transplantation also produced different optically characterized pearls by breeding them in various environments. These results suggested that the optical characteristics underlying pearl quality are not only the influence by donor oyster but also the sex, the strain, and the breeding conditions of recipient oyster.
Highlights
The technique of producing pearls in the body of Akoya pearl oyster by transplantation is a biotechnology developed in Japan that skillfully utilized the biomineralization ability of oysters (Southgate and Lucas 2008; Wada 1999)
We have clearly indicated that the sex of recipient pearl oyster directly affects the quality of pearl, and the optical characteristics measured by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) of pearl produced from male and female pearl oysters significantly differed (Iwai et al 2015)
Our study revealed that the sex of the recipient oysters affects the thickness of the pearl nacre and the optical characteristics and quality of the pearl (Iwai et al 2015)
Summary
The technique of producing pearls in the body of Akoya pearl oyster by transplantation is a biotechnology developed in Japan that skillfully utilized the biomineralization ability of oysters (Southgate and Lucas 2008; Wada 1999). We have clearly indicated that the sex of recipient pearl oyster directly affects the quality of pearl, and the optical characteristics measured by FT-IR of pearl produced from male and female pearl oysters significantly differed (Iwai et al 2015). These results showed that the optical characteristics and quality of pearls have strong influence by donor oysters and by recipient oysters. We measured the FT-IR spectra of the pearls produced with various recipient and donor strain combinations and pearls cultured in various culture area and, based on these characteristics, clustered and investigated what kind of factors influence the quality of pearls
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