Taste, shelf life still pose problems 



(Continued from page 3) 



it is possible that the clams will accumulate these 

 poisons. Viruses from poorly treated sewage and sep- 

 tic discharges may similarly contaminate the clams. 



From a marketing standpoint, one of the biggest 

 problems with the clam is its short storage life. 

 Because of its high bacterial count, freshly shucked 

 Rangia meat turns sour quickly. One possible method 

 for extending shelf life is through processing. Kane 

 has already begun work with the use of pasteuriza- 

 tion. While he is optimistic that it will work on the 

 Rangia and even improve the taste of the clam, he 

 emphasizes that more testing is necessary. 



Both Benton and officials with the U.S. Food and 

 Drug Administration have asked the researchers to 

 identify the various kinds of bacteria found in the 

 clam. "We know that they are not pathogenic," ex- 

 plains Kane. "But now we need to know what they 

 are." 



Kane believes this information is vital. It may ul- 

 timately help them to find out what is responsible for 

 the "muddy" taste associated with many of the clams 

 and whether it can be improved. 



But there are even more basic questions: Can the 

 clam's population support large-scale harvesting? 

 Are there certain environmental conditions in which 

 the clam grows best? 



"We need to know more about the clam's popula- 

 tion in terms of recruitment and replacement," 

 asserts Kane. "I would hate to get all tooled up for 

 something that may be only a flash in the pan." 



Although it was once thought that the Rangia was 

 restricted to Gulf Coast waters prior to the 1950s, 

 fossil sediments from prehistoric times reveal that 

 the clam did occur along North Carolina thousands of 

 years ago. Why did the clam disappear for centuries 

 and then suddenly reappear? Could it happen again? 



The answers to these and other questions will re- 

 quire further research and careful study. But Kane 



Rangia on the half shell? 



and Jeffreys are confident that their studies support 

 the overall bacteriological safety of the clam. And 

 they believe that once problems with shelf life and 

 poor taste are overcome, the Rangia clam could 

 become another important food resource harvested 

 from North Carolina's estuaries. 



The University of North Carolina Sea Grant College 

 Newsletter is published monthly except July and 

 December by the University of North Carolina Sea 

 Grant College Program, 105 1911 Building, North 

 Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C. 27650, Vol. 5, 

 No. 6, June, 1978. Dr. B. J. Copeland, director. Written 

 and edited by Karen Jurgensen, Mary Day Mordecai and 

 Virginia Worthington. Second-class postage paid at 

 Raleigh, N.C. 27611. 



University of North Carolina « ? n ~ c c lr postage paid at Raleigh 



