Advantages of recovery from pre-slaughter stress in tambaqui Colossoma macropomum (Cuvier 1816) agroindustry in the Amazon

Abstract

Tambaqui is the main fish species farmed in the Amazon. It is produced on industrial scale, slaughtered in the field, primarily by post-harvest asphyxia. This procedure, however, is stressful because it depletes energy reserves that should be used in postmortem metabolism, which may compromise fish meat freshness and quality. The present study compared the quality of tambaquis slaughtered by asphyxia, the conventional industrial method, and hypothermia. Tambaquis weighing around 1.6 kg were harvested from dugout ponds, transported to experimental tanks and allowed to recover from transport stress for 48h. Biological parameters of fish were evaluated alive post-harvest (Harv), transport (Tr) and recovery (Rc), and postmortem analysis was performed in fish slaughtered by asphyxia (Asph) or hypothermia (Hyp) after transport and recovery. Initial observations showed that the content of total volatile nitrogen bases (TVB-N) and pH were higher in fish killed by asphyxia. Sensory analysis indicated that the quality of fish slaughtered immediately after transport was lower than in fish allowed to recover from pre-slaughter stress. The results suggest that recovery from pre-slaughter stress contributes to preserving meat freshness and quality in tambaquis slaughtered on an industrial scale, but other studies are required to determine the feasibility of this recommendation.

Development of a quality index scheme and shelf-life study for whole tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum)

“…After slaughter, a small decrease in pH occurs as a result of disruption of the oxygen supply to the muscle tissue, where muscle glycogen becomes anaerobic and converted to lactic acid by glycolysis (Mendes et al 2017). The gradual increase in pH values after harvesting also reflected the production of alkaline bacterial metabolites in spoiling fish and coincided with the increase in total volatile basic nitrogen (Abbas et al 2008).…”

Morphometric Evaluations and Yields from Commercial Cuts of Black Pacu Colossoma macropomum (Cuvier, 1818) in Different Body Weights

“…The productive sector of fish farming can only consolidate and become competitive with other meat-producing industrial segments once the various technological problems related to slaughter, handling, processing, storage, commercialization, distribution [ 31 ], and quality management of value-added products are solved [ 17 ]. According to Bombardelli et al [ 32 ], these problems are mainly responsible for the reduction of meat quality, expiration date, and fish consumption, and the modernization process will allow a greater added value to products and by-products, in addition to allowing popularization in the consumer market.…”

The farming and husbandry ofColossoma macropomum: From Amazonian waters to sustainable production

“…There is need for studies on pre‐slaughter procedures, which could directly interfere with rigour mortis and increase the fish product's shelf life. Mendes et al 366 evaluated the advantages of recovery from pre‐slaughter stress in tambaqui. The fish were placed into ponds to recover from the stress of transportation for 48 h, and then were slaughtered by asphyxia and hypothermia.…”