Meat Quality Evaluation of Frozen Tuna Caught in a Tuna Longline Fishery

-1st report: The Difference of Distribution of Chemical Components-

Abstract

When the tuna meat is frozen sequentially from outside of body by air blast freezer, the duration for freeze is different in each part. Though it was suggested that the meat quality is different in each part, the distribution of that is almost unknown. In this study, the relationship between chemical components and meat color through whole body was analyzed. The ratio of ATP around vertebra was lower than that of the skin. The content of lactic acid was higher at the point of low ATP. The red meat color was negative correlated with the ration of ATP and total sugar amount, and positive correlated with lactic acid content and myoglobin content. Therefore, it could be shown that the distribution of chemical components in tuna muscle had been individually different.