Abstract:Heat-pressure steam treatments at various temperatures were used for short periods to shuck mussels, and the optimal shucking mechanism using heat-pressure treatment was determined. The results showed that mussel meat treated at 145 ℃ for 1 min had the highest quality among all of the treated meats. The results of SDS-PAGE showed that bands of actomyosin light chain and heavy chain disappeared after the heat-pressure treatment. Based on the infrared spectrum, the non-covalent bond of its protein tertiary structure ruptured, and the proteins of the adductor muscle in mussels showed gelation. Collagen in the connective tissue changed to gelatin at the glass transition temperature. The results of differential scanning calorimetry showed that the glass transition temperature was approximately 134 ℃. An electron microscope was used to observe the appearance of adductor muscles, and after heat-pressure treatment, there was clear breakage in the fibers of adductor muscles. The adductor protein was spherically scattered before the treatment, but when it was treated by the heat-pressure method, it displayed stronger gel combination than the adductor protein treated by boiling in water, and the functional proteins in the adductor muscle degenerated to a larger degree after treatment. Therefore, the heat-pressure treatments made the adductor muscle system of mussels lose micelle intensity, and achieved the purpose of separating the adductor muscle from the shell. In conclusion, heat-pressure treatment was more effective than the traditional method of boiling in reducing damage to the meat and improving the efficiency of shucking.
