Muscle high-energy phosphates and stress affect K-values during ice storage of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

Initial levels of white muscle high-energy phosphates, IMP, ATP:IMP-ratio, adenylate energy charge and pH were used as indicators of handling stress when Atlantic salmon were slaughtered. Ante-mortem handling included fish that were either anesthetized (baseline), quickly netted and killed by a blow to the head (unstressed) or chased to exhaustion in the holding tank (stressed). During subsequent storage in ice, freshness was evaluated in terms of IMP, HxR, Hx and K-values. HPLC showed initial differences in distribution of metabolites induced by struggling gradually fell during storage. K-values were different only for 2 days post mortem, but the effect of handling stress was discernible as higher mean K-values and different IMP and HxR contents for up to 7 days post mortem.