Differential scanning calorimetric investigations on pyloric caeca during ripening of salted herring products

The thermoanalytical behaviour of pyloric caeca during salting and ripening was investigated using a Perkin Elmer DSC 7. Not only the thermal stability of the muscle proteins was influenced by salting but also that of pyloric caeca. It was recognised that the salting itself leads to a remarkable increase of the transition temperature compared with raw herring. An influence of the salt:fish ratio could be observed. The higher the salt content the higher the increase of the denaturation temperature. During ripening the transition temperature remained on a high level or showed only a slight decrease during the investigation period. The dependency from the salt content remained evident. The increase of the transition temperature was accompanied by a decrease of the transition enthalpy. The increase of thermal stability is connected with a decrease of the general proteolytic activity in pyloric caeca. Possibly, the enzymes are diffusing from the pyloric caeca into the muscle and cause there an increase of enzymatic activity observable in North Sea herring accompanied by a decrease of activity in pyloric caeca itself. Simultaneous the thermal stability of pyloric caeca is lowered. The reason for the differences in ripening could be seen in some enzyme-inhibiting factors unknown until now.