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Protein denaturation in frozen fish. VII. —Effect of the onset and resolution of rigor mortis on denaturation
Author(s) -
Love R. M.
Publication year - 1962
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.2740131006
Subject(s) - rigor mortis , denaturation (fissile materials) , fish <actinopterygii> , solubility , chemistry , food science , fish fillet , salt (chemistry) , salt solution , chromatography , biochemistry , fishery , biology , nuclear chemistry , organic chemistry
Pre‐rigor frozen cod were found to be less denatured than post‐rigor material under a wide range of conditions, ‚denaturation’ being loss of salt‐solubility of the proteins. Pre‐rigor frozen cod only became less soluble in salt solution than post‐rigor fish when the muscle was able to contract freely on thawing out. This occurred when bits, of the order of 1 g., or thin strips were thawed quickly. If the fragments were thawed slowly, or if whole fillets or entire fish were used, the contraction did not take place and the protein was not affected. The salt‐solubility of fresh pre‐rigor muscle (‚never‐frozen’) was always low compared with that of post‐rigor muscle, and it was found that if pre‐rigor muscle went into rigor as fillets, not as whole fish, i.e., was free to contract, the salt‐solubility remained low indefinitely.