Kinetics of quality changes in whole blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) during pasteurization

- Most cook loss and area shrinkage occurred during first 5 min of heating.
- A positive correlation was found between cook loss, shrinkage and compression force.
- Protein denaturation was high in whole mussel due to the less connective tissue.

The effects of pasteurization temperatures (65 to 90 °C) on the kinetics of quality changes (cook loss, area shrinkage and texture) in whole blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) were investigated. The cook loss, area shrinkage and compression force increased with increasing heating time and temperature, and followed the first-order, second- and zero-order reactions, respectively. Most cook loss (30%) and area shrinkage (36%) occurred during the first 5 min of heating. A high positive correlation was found between cook loss, area shrinkage and compression force, indicating that dehydration and protein aggregation were reflected in compression force measurements, especially at higher temperatures (75 to 90 °C). The activation energy (Ea) for cook loss, area shrinkage and compression force were 55.6, 92.3 and 64.7 kJ/mol, respectively. The Ea for compression force, 64.7 kJ/mol, was lower than that reported in the literature, reflecting differences in the type and degree of protein denaturation from differences in how heat treatments were conducted.