Rock Lobster Post Harvest Subprogram: striking a balance between melanosis and weight recoveries in western rock lobster (Panulirus cygnus)

Funding Activity

Website
https://www.frdc.com.au/project/2001-235

Funding Status
Closed

Does something not look right? The information on this page has been harvested from data sources that may not be up to date. We continue to work with information providers to improve coverage and quality. To report an issue, use the .

Funded Activity Summary

Currently, melanosis is prevented by increasing cooking time, which results in reduced weight recoveries. At present, cooked weight recoveries average between 93-95% of landed beach weight. An average increase of 1% over the entire industry would result in an increased return of $1-2 million per season (see B2: Background). Thus there is significant scope for improvement. In addition, prevention of melanosis would result in further savings of approximately $1 million per season (see B2: Background).

For the industry to consistently achieve maximum cooked weight recoveries, whilst reliably controlling melanosis, a systematic investigation of the impact of processing on these factors is essential. The information generated by this study will be used to define best processing practices in order to increase overall quality of the product and profitability of the industry.

Objectives:
1. To establish the impact of temperature and food additives on the activity of P. cygnus haemolymph phenol oxidase (PO) in vitro.
2. To establish the impact of current commercial practices on weight recovery and melanosis formation.
3. To establish the impact of post-harvest transportation on PO activity, weight recovery and melanosis formation.
4. To determine the effects of anti-browning agents on weight recovery and melanosis formation.
5. To validate the use of experimentally determined cooking profiles for improvement of cooked weight recoveries and prevention of melanosis.
6. To formulate recommendations and guidelines that will enable industry to apply the findings of the study.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 30-06-2001

End Date: 01-07-2005

Funding Scheme: Funding Scheme not available

Funding Amount: $247,194.00

Funder: Fisheries Research and Development Corporation

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

There are no FoR codes available for this funding activity

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

Commercial Species | Food processing | Food technology | Post Harvest | Processing & packaging

Related Links