Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of slaughter weight on the expression of calpastatin, mcalpain
and the RyR3 gene, and on the chemical composition, morphometric measurements, fillet yield and
sensorial characteristics of Nile tilapia fillets. In the experiment, 90 Nile tilapia were divided into three experimental
treatments regarding slaughter weight (n = 30): in treatment 1, tilapia aged 140 days were
slaughtered with an average body weight of 665 ± 85 g; in treatment 2, the animals were slaughtered at
182 days and weighed 1000 ± 177 g; and in treatment 3, they were slaughtered at 238 days and weighed
1325 ± 167 g. There was no significant difference (P > .05) between the treatments for the chemical composition
and fillet yield. Fillets of tilapia slaughtered with a weight of 665 g presented higher expression of mcalpain
and lower expression of calpastatin gene, lower pH values of the thawed fillet, lower drip and thawing
loss, and lower shear force than animals slaughtered with the highest evaluated weight. Tilapias slaughtered at
665 g also presented higher flavor and general acceptance. These results show that slaughter weight may influence
important aspects of the quality of Nile tilapia fillets and that the slaughter of Nile tilapia with a body
weight of 665 g allows fillets that serve the consumer market to be obtained.
Description
Keywords
Calpain expression Calpastatin expression Meat quality Oreochromis niloticus Ryanodine receptors
Citation
Morais, Carlos Adriano Rocha Silva; Santana, Thaís Pacheco; Santos, Camilo Azevedo; Passetti, Rodrigo Augusto Cortez; Melo, José Fernando Bibiano; Macedo, Francisco de Assis Fonseca de; Vieira, Jodnes Sobreira; Teixeira, A.; Del Vesco, Ana Paula (2020). Effect of slaughter weight on the quality of Nile tilapia fillets. Aquaculture. ISSN 0044-8486. 520, p. 1-6