CONTENTS 



Page 



Introduction 1 



I. Determining the cause of blue discoloration 2 



A. Dead or decaying crab hypothesis 2 



1. Processing dead crabs 2 



2. Discarded crabs from debacking line 2 



B. Processing hypothesis 3 



1. Effect of parchment liners 3 



2. Effect of method of obtaining a vacuum 3 



3. Effect of plant water used in processing 3 



C. Chemical ion hypothesis 3 



II. Remedial treatments 6 



A. Addition of organic acids 6 



B. Addition of chelating agents 6 



C. Addition of buffer solution 7 



D. Extraction of the blue colored complex 7 



III. Need for additional research 7 



Literature cited 7 



111 



