Self-Degradation of Sea Cucumber Body Wall Under 4C Storage Condition

Abstract

Sea cucumbers treated by high pressure steam (HPSC) could degrade during storage at 4C. Texture profile analysis was explored, and it showed that after 160 days the hardness and chewiness decreased dramatically from 295.85 to 15.67 gf and from 227.08 to 9.18 gf 2 s, respectively. The water activity significantly increased from 0.935 to 0.973, and the content of free water rose as the proportion of transverse relaxation time (T23) mounted from 0.810 to 0.901 after 45 days. In addition, T1-weighted and T2-weighted imaging confirmed that the distribution of immobilized water and free water in body wall underwent significant changes after 60 days. The collagen fibers fractured, free hydroxyproline and ammoniacal nitrogen levels increased significantly during storage. The present findings indicated that the degradation of HPSC was primarily caused by the destruction of body wall, which was related to the water distribution and the decline of quality. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSSea cucumber has become an important food resource due to its high nutritional value. It is well known that sea cucumbers are easy to autolyze when taken out of sea water because of enzymes, microorganisms and several environmental factors. Therefore, it is difficult to preserve and transport sea cucumbers. Various drying methods were used to extend the quality and shelf life and that would bring nutrition loss and food safety problems. The enzymes and microorganisms were inactivated by high pressure steam sterilization, which could prolong shelf life and maintain quality of sea cucumbers. However, sea cucumbers treated by high pressure steam (HPSC) degraded after a period of storage time. This study aimed to study the degradation and the associated mechanism of HPSC during storage.

Thermal treatments and their influence on physicochemical properties of sea cucumbers: a comprehensive review

“…The pivotal technique of both high‐pressure and vacuum treatments is the cooperative control of pressure and temperature (Li et al ., 2019; Peng et al ., 2015). In addition to high pressure (0.15 or 0.21 MPa) steam has been applied at 121 °C for 10 or 15 min in previous studies (Chen et al ., 2016; Gu et al ., 2022). Compared with atmospheric treatments, some advantages include flavour retention, reduced nutrient loss and prolonged shelf‐life (Zhu et al ., 2022).…”

“…This is mainly reason caused by endogenous proteolysis and oxidation during chilled storage (Liu et al ., 2020a). Moreover, deterioration of high‐pressure treated sea cucumbers was indicated more seriously because the drastic destruction of the body wall and collagen fibres was more severe than in traditional heating methods (Chen et al ., 2016). To address this issue, microbial transglutaminase (Liu et al ., 2021), celery and chlorogenic acid (Zhu et al ., 2022), lactic acid and tea polyphenols (Liu et al ., 2020a) have been used to delay softening and preserve the morphology of samples, thereby extending the quality retention period.…”

“…In previous studies, the loss of some nutrients and bioactive constituents potentially lowered the health benefits derived from sea cucumbers in the diet (Duan et al ., 2010). Although ready‐to‐eat sea cucumbers, with minimal loss of water‐soluble nutrients and bioactive components, have a more favourable hardness, springiness and chewiness, their weight, volume and length affect consumer acceptance (Peng et al ., 2015; Chen et al ., 2016). Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the chemical compound changes and treatment‐induced qualitative metabolites of sea cucumbers during thermal treatment (Table 3).…”

Effects of Storage Method on the Quality of Processed Sea Cucumbers (Apostichopus japonicus)

“…Most sea cucumbers available for purchase are dehydrated by conventional techniques, including salting, repeated boiling, and exposure to solar radiation [ 6 ]. The traditional drying process can bring serious nutritional loss, food safety, and cost problems [ 7 , 8 ]. In addition, the traditional drying process impairs the taste and edibility of sea cucumber products.…”

Study on the Volatile Organic Compounds and Its Correlation with Water Dynamics of Bigeye Tuna (Thunnus obesus) during Cold Storage

“…Water distribution and mobility in muscle have significant effects on appearance, flavour, ammonia nitrogen content and textural parameters of seafood during storage. High water content can affect quality deterioration of seafood, which leads to a limited shelf-life [5]. Based on the characteristics of sensitivity, non-invasiveness and low cost, LF-NMR (low-field nuclear magnetic resonance) has been applied to aquatic food during processing and storage [4].…”