Biochemical Changes in Fish Muscle During Rigor Mortis

SUMMARY Mullets (Mugil dussumieri), Bombay ducks (Harpodon nehereus), and groupers (Epinephalus malabaricus) were stored in crushed ice at about 2°C, and changes in pH, glycogen, lactic acid, inorganic phosphorus, creatine phosphate, ATP, acid-soluble and Ba-acetate non-precipitable ribose, and TMA were studied. Though glycogen decreased and lactic acid increased throughout, no direct relation was observed, and measurable quantities of glycogen were present at the end of the experiment. Inorganic phosphorus increased slowly, and creatine phosphate and ATP decreased, the former at a more rapid rate. The Ba-acetate non-precipitable ribose and the ratio of non-precipitable ribose to acid-soluble ribose increased continuously. TMA values rose slowly, but were quite low even at the end of the experiment.