Table 5. — Organoleptic evaluation of blue crab meat treated with phosphates, citrate, and salt before frozen 



storage: texture results.' 



Texture results (9 poiat scale) after storing samples at 

 indicated temperature and number of months" 



Chemical 

 treatment' 



Packaging 

 used' 



0° F 



-20° F 



Dry ice 



6 



8 



6.4 6.3 6.5 6 



7.4 7 



7 6.) 



6.3 



Bag 



6.4 6. 



7. 



6.6 6.9 6. 



7, 



6.9 7.5 



7.5 



6.5 



7.0 



7.0 



' Flake meat samples frozen by immersion in Freon 12. 



^ The rating system is outlined in Figure 1-4. 



' Crab meat dipped in a solution containing 10% sodium tripolyphosphate plus 2% sodium chloride (TPP-NaCl) 

 or in a solution containing 2C'f sodium acid pyrophosphate (SAPP) or in a solution containing 5% sodiiun chloride 

 plus 1% sodium citrate (NaCl-citrate) before freezing. 



' "Bag" refers to a polyethylene bag without vacuum while "V.P." refers to a three-ply laminate package seat-sealed 

 while under vacuum. 



° Samples obtained from crabs caught near the Virginia coast (high-salinity water). Other samples from crabs caught 

 in the Chesapeake Bay (low-salinity water). 



held at 0° F or —20° F and in Table II-2 for 

 samples held on dry ice. Ratings for appear- 

 ance, odor, and texture were also made on these 

 samples, but these results did not change as 

 much as the overall taste rating. 



Taken as a group, these results indicate that 

 the nitrite dip treatment had a neutral effect 

 on the acceptability of these samples. These 

 results are very similar to evaluations made of 

 undipped samples which were frozen, packaged, 

 and stored by similar methods (Strasser et al., 

 1971). On the other hand, the nitrite-treated 

 samples which were frozen rapidly and stored 

 at — 20° F received much higher ratings than 

 samples which were dipped in some of the other 

 chemical solutions used in this investigation. 



Various Combinations of Dip and 



Spray Solutions 



Several crab meat samples were glazed with 

 various spray solutions either after a dip treat- 



ment and freezing or merely freezing them. 

 The solutions used and the results obtained 

 after storing these samples at — 20° F are sum- 

 marized in Table II-7. 



Apart from Tenox-6, which was the only 

 non-aqueous solution used, the composition of 

 the spray solution had relatively little effect 

 on the ratings received by these samples. These 

 ratings are also generally similar to ratings 

 received by crab meat samples which were 

 frozen and stored under similar conditions but 

 had not been treated with chemical solutions 

 (Strasser et al., 1971). Although only tvvo 

 samples were treated with sodium carboxy- 

 methylcellulose, which is known as a coating 

 agent, it is conceivable that the slightly higher 

 ratings of these samples may be related to a 

 slight preference shown for vacuum-packaged 

 crab meat frozen and stored under similar con- 

 ditions except for chemical treatments (Stras- 

 ser et al., 1971). Considering all of these re- 

 sults, it appears that a glazing treatment is at 



21 



