Quality enhancement of the abundant under‐valued crustacean, lobster krill (Munida spp.), during its chilled storage

Abstract

Summary Lobster krill (Munida genus) represents an under‐valued crustacean frequently caught on European fishing banks. In this work, its sensory, microbiological and biochemical qualities were evaluated during chilled storage. Additionally, the effects of a prestorage antimelanosic treatment consisting of soaking in sodium metabisulphite (SMB) solutions at two different concentrations (0.25% and 0.75%) were also studied. SMB prestorage treatment provided lobster specimens that still exhibited acceptable sensory quality after 10 days of storage, while control specimens were unacceptable at that time. SMB treatment also resulted in a significant (P < 0.05) inhibition of microbial growth, mainly of Enterobacteriaceae, psychrotrophes and proteolytic bacteria. Low lipid oxidation levels were observed for all batches; however, a significantly higher (P < 0.05) retention of polyunsaturated fatty acids was found in SMB‐treated lobster, especially in the 0.75% SMB batch. The results presented here open the way to the potential commercialisation of currently under‐utilised lobster krill as a chilled product.

A Comparative Study of Lipid Composition of an Undervalued Crustacean (Munidaspp.) Captured in Winter and Summer

“…Finally, all kinds of samples revealed a high PI score, being average values higher in summer specimens, although differences were not significant (p>0.05). Present PI values are in agreement with those previously described in previous research concerning this marine product (2.49-2.56;García-Soto et al, 2015a, 2015b.…”

“…Lipid content (%) ( Table 1) ranged from 0.75±0.08 (summer) to 0.92±0.06 (winter), so that higher values than those previously reported for this marine product were obtained (García-Soto et al, 2015a, 2015b. This lipid content is also higher than those determined in other crustacean species such as Norwegian lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) (0.70 %; Tsape et al, 2010), pink shrimp (Parapenaeus longirostris) (0.35 %; Cadun et al, 2005), shrimp (0.36 %; Penaeus brasiliensis), crab (0.49 %; Ucides cordatus) and lobster (0.66 %; Panulirus argus) (Pedrosa and Cozzolino, 2001).…”

“…Concerning previous technological studies, Munida spp. have shown a promising behaviour under chilling (García-Soto et al, 2015a) and frozen (García-Soto et al, 2015b) storage. Additionally, recent studies on their carotenoid composition (García-López et al, 2016) and proteolytic activity (D'Ambrosio et al, 2003) have opened the way to other issues of technological interest.…”