Morais, Carlos Adriano Rocha SilvaSantana, Thaís PachecoSantos, Camilo AzevedoPassetti, Rodrigo Augusto CortêzMelo, José Fernando BibianoMacedo, Francisco de Assis Fonseca deVieira, Jodnes SobreiraTeixeira, AlfredoDel Vesco, Ana Paula2018-02-192020-06-222018-01-192020-06-222020Morais, 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. 1-60044-8486http://hdl.handle.net/10198/22363The 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.engCalpain expressionCalpastatin expressionMeat qualityOreochromis niloticusRyanodine receptorsjournal article10.1016/j.aquaculture.2020.734941