Rigor-Mortis Progress of Carp Acclimated to Different Water Temperatures

Abstract

Effects of the acclimation temperatures of carp between 5 and 30°C were examined on rigormortis progress and the postmortem changes of ATP and related compounds, glycogen, and lactate during storage at 0 and 10°C. The acclimation temperature gave large effects on both period required for reaching a maximal rigor and rigor strength. Rigor-mortis proceeded faster with increasing the difference between acclimation and storage temperatures. Rigor-mortis attained its maximum at 72 h for 0 and 5°C-difference, while at 56, 32, and 24 h for 10, 20, and 30°C-difference, respectively. For carp given 30°C temperature difference, maximal rigor index was almost 100%, while only below 60% for 0 and 5°C-difference. After transfer of carp to 30°C from 14°C, it took 4 weeks to change the rigor-mortis progress to a typical 30°C pattern. These data suggest that protein or lipid biosyntheses are involved in the changes of rigor-mortis patterns during temperature acclimation of carp. During the postmortem storage, changes of several compounds, i.e., ATP and glycogen decrease and lactate accumulation, were faster for warm-acclimated carp than cold-acclimated one. These differences are considered to be derived from the differences of ATP consumption rates between warm and cold-acclimated carp. © 1991, The Japanese Society of Fisheries Science. All rights reserved.