Effect of Season, Location, Filleting Regime and Storage on Water Holding Properties of Farmed Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar L.)

Abstract

SummaryThe effect of season, localization, filleting regime and storage on water holding properties of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) was investigated. Salmon was sampled at two different slaughter facilities (North and South in Norway) at autumn and spring and divided in pre and post rigor groups, which was sampled before and after filleting. This gave a total of 16 groups that were analyzed for water holding capacity (WHC), water content and pH. In addition, a storage trial was performed to assess the effect of all the design variables on drip loss and the composition of the drip loss during up to 18 days of storage. WHC was significantly affected by both rigor status and filleting, while water content was affected by localization and filleting. In addition, post rigor filleting gave significantly decreased drip loss compared to pre rigor filleting. However, storage time had the highest impact on the drip loss. Based on this, it is concluded that pre rigor filleted salmon have excellent water holding properties and a great potential for early processing (pre rigor processing). It was however difficult to find a clear connection between the drip loss and the water holding capacity of the muscle.

Genome-Wide Scan for Common Variants Associated With Intramuscular Fat and Moisture Content in Rainbow Trout

“…In the pork industry, drip loss results in up to 10% product losses affecting profitability at wholesale and retail levels [44]. Similarly, 1.5 to 5% of drip losses were reported in salmon [46,47].…”

Genome-wide scan for common variants associated with intramuscular fat and moisture content in rainbow trout

“…In the pork industry, drip loss results in up to 10% product losses affecting profitability at wholesale and retail levels [44]. Similarly, 1.5 to 5% of drip losses were reported in salmon [46,47]. Muscle quality traits in rainbow trout are complex and controlled by many genes (i.e., polygenic in nature) [31,39].…”

Water holding properties of Atlantic salmon

“…(2007) developed a method that includes water content and cook loss to determine WHC of whole and comminuted samples in both raw and cooked fish (Equations 2–4). This method calculates the dry matter, where liquid is lost by drying the sample gravimetrically at 105°C, representing the moisture that includes the loss of bound water and has been used by several studies with Atlantic salmon and Atlantic cod (Blikra et al., 2019; Chan, Roth, Jessen, et al., 2020; Chan, Roth, Skare, et al., 2020; Chan, Skare, et al., 2021; Fidalgo et al., 2020; Lerfall & Rotabakk, 2016; Rotabakk et al., 2017). In addition, the total WHC changes from raw to cooked product can also be determined.…”

“…Postmortem pH and protein denaturation are critical determinants of DL and WHC in fish and meat (Duun, 2008; Huff‐Lonergan & Lonergan, 2007; Kaale et al., 2014; Rotabakk et al., 2017). Other pre‐ and postmortem factors that influence DL and WHC in Atlantic salmon have also been reported (Figure 2), such as premortem stress (Lerfall et al., 2015; Roth et al., 2006), starvation (Mørkøre et al., 2008) and the state of rigor mortis (Ofstad et al., 1996; Rotabakk et al., 2017).…”

“…Rotabakk et al. (2017) reported that the season (spring and autumn) or locality (northern, southern Norway) on the Norwegian coast did not affect the WHC of Atlantic salmon after slaughter. Moreover, salmon slaughtered in spring (May) had a higher DL by 0.3% than in autumn (November).…”