Effects of Ultra-low Temperature Freezing and Frozen Storage on the Meat Quality of Cooked Mussel

TIAN Haoyang; MIAO Wenhua; XU Jing; ZHANG Junjie; XU Jie; ZHAO Yadong; YANG Hongli; ZHENG Bin

doi:10.13982/j.mfst.1673-9078.2025.1.1403

Abstract：In this study,the effects of ultra-low temperature freezing and frozen storage on the quality of mussels during frozen storage were explored by taking the freezing method and frozen storage temperature as variables.During the 6-week freezing process,compared with the slow freezing in the refrigerator and the freezing at-20℃,the mussels were quickly frozen in liquid nitrogen and thawed at-30℃,resulting in a loss of 22.58%,a higher moisture content(76.61%)as compared with the other groups,and the best sensory scoring while maintaining good elasticity(0.52 mm)and chewiness(5.64 mJ).During the frozen storage period,the TVB-N value and total bacterial count of the mussels continued to increase,whilst the pH continued to decrease.After rapid freezing in liquid nitrogen and frozen storage below-30℃,the TVB-N value of mussels was 12.2 mg/100 g,and the total bacterial count was 32 CFU/g,which were significantly lower than those of the other three groups(P<0.05).The pH value(7.32)and color L* value(66.18)of mussels were higher than those of the other three groups.Compared with the other groups,the Ca2+-ATPase(345.21 IU/L)activity of the myofibrillar protein in the mussels frozen at-20℃after rapid freezing in liquid nitrogen was the highest,with higher elasticity(0.59 mm)and chewiness(6.86 mJ).In summary,using liquid nitrogen for quick freezing of mussels can effectively improve the quality of frozen mussels,and a lower storage temperatures can improve the quality of frozen mussels to a certain extent,which will provide theoretical support for ultra-low temperature preservation of mussels.