Postmortem changes in physiochemical and sensory properties of red snow crab (Chionoecetes japonicus) leg muscle during freeze storage

In order to evaluate the maximal storable period of the raw crab for a non-thermal muscle separation, the quality changes of the leg meat of red snow crab (Chionoecetes japonicus) during freeze storage were investigated. Fresh red snow crabs were stored at −20 °C for 7 weeks, and the leg muscle was separated by a no heating separation (NHS) method every week. During the storage, considerable loss of the leg muscle did not occur and microbiological risk was very low. In contrast, discoloration appeared at 2-week storage on around carapace and the leg muscle turned yellow at storage 3-week. In physiochemical parameters, protein and free amino acids gradually decreased with storage time, expected that proteolytic enzymes still activated at −20 °C. At 4-week storage, the sensory acceptance dropped down below point 4 as low as inedible and notable inflection points in pH and acidity were observed. The volatile base nitrogen was low, though a little increase was recorded. These results suggested that the maximal storable period at −20 °C of the raw material was within 2 weeks and it was depended on external factor such as the discoloration. The present study might be referred as basic data for approaches to solve quality loss occurred in non-thermal muscle separation.