Table II-7. — Organoleptic evaluation of blue crab meat treated with various dip and spray solutions.' 



Composition 



of 

 dip solution 



Composition 



of 

 spray solution 



Packaging 

 used^ 



Overall taste results (9 point scale) 

 after storing samples at —20° F 

 for indicated number of months" 



7.2 



6.8 

 7.1 



6.7 



6.4 

 5,9 

 6.5 



6.0 



6.4 

 6.1 

 3.1 

 3.9 



' Flake meat samples dipped in solution indicated, frozen by immersion in Freon 12, then sprayed with solution 

 indicated and refrozen by immersion in Freon 12. 



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

 while under vacuum. 



^ The rating system is outlined in Figure 1-4. Based on 23 separate evaluations (295 individual ratings), the panel's 

 average rating for overall taste in fresh crab meat was 6.8 and its range was 6.4 to 7.4. 



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

 caught in the Chesapeake Bay (low-salinity water). 



(Tables II-l, II-4, and II-6). None of the 

 chemical treatments used appeared to improve 

 the taste of the heat-sterilized samples even 

 though sodium acid pyrophosphate and sodium 

 nitrite treatments did improve their appear- 

 ance. All of the freeze-dried samples received 

 poor ratings. 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 



In general, the chemical dip treatments did 

 not improve the quality of preserved blue crab 

 meat. Some of these dip treatments, such as 

 ascorbic acid, actually depressed the quality of 

 frozen-stored crab meat compared with un- 

 treated samples stored under similar conditions. 



Other dip treatments, such as monosodium 

 glutamate or sodium nitrite, had a neutral 

 effect. It is conceivable that the failure of 

 these dip treatments to improve the quality of 

 preserved crab meat may be due to unknowTi 

 biochemical differences related to species or 

 processing conditions between blue crabs and 

 other crustaceans. Although these dip treat- 

 ments may have leached some chemical con- 

 stituents from the samples, the results of bac- 

 teriological examinations indicate that these 

 samples were not significantly contaminated by 

 these dip treatments (Table II-9). 



When some of the same chemical solutions 

 were used to glaze crab meat just after freezing 

 it, an improvement in the quality of the frozen- 

 stored samples was usually observed. All of 



23 



