Protein Instability in Minced Flesh from Fillets and Frames of Several Commercial Atlantic Fishes During Storage at −5 C

Abstract

Minced flesh of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and pollock (Pollachius virens), recovered by means of meat-separator machines from frames left after filleting operations, suffered a rapid loss of protein solubility during storage at −5 C. This was due to the presence of kidney tissue which caused the formation of dimethylamine and formaldehyde from the trimethylamine oxide of the muscle. The minced flesh of witch flounder (Glyptocephalus cynoglossus), American plaice (Hippoglossoides platessoides), and Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) was relatively stable when mixed with homogenates of their own kidney tissue, but cod kidney caused the same changes in gray sole as it did in minced cod flesh. The exclusion of gadoid kidney and blood from minced fish preparations is recommended.