Changes in Concentration of ATP-related Compounds in Various Tissues of Oyster during Ice Storage

Abstract

Changes in the levels of ATP-related compounds were investigated in the adductor muscle, mantle, gill, and body trunk of the oyster Crassostrea gigas during ice storage, in relation to freshness. The determination was performed using an improved HPLC system with isocratic elution. The level of ATP-related compounds in the adductor muscle was about twice that found in the other 3 tissues tested. In adductor muscle, ATP decreased rapidly, while AMP and IMP accumulated. Only adductor muscle contained AdR. The K value in the adductor muscle increased linearly but slowly during storage (about 22% at the initial decomposition stage), while the K' value increased rapidly and reached about 70% at the initial decomposition stage and thereafter remained constant. In mantle, gill, and body trunk, ATP levels decreased slowly, whereas ADP and AMP accumulated. IMP was present at low levels. The K values in the 3 tissues were low at the acceptable stage. The K' value increased slowly but linearly during storage. A.E.C. value decreased rapidly and continuously from 70–80 % to 10–20 % during the acceptable stage. Although K or K' values in the adductor muscle and K' or A.E.C. values in the other 3 tissues could be used as freshness indices, the K' value in the adductor muscle and the A.E.C. value in the other 3 tissues appeared to be most useful as freshness indices of oysters. © 1992, The Japanese Society of Fisheries Science. All rights reserved.