Biological characteristics affect the quality of farmed Atlantic salmon and smoked muscle

Various biological characteristics influencing the quality of farmed salmon and smoked muscle were studied. No great differences in proximate composition were observed among raw fish. Stress produced a slight decrease in protein solubility at 0.8 M NaCl and also slight variations in electrophoretic profile. This was accompanied by a certain degree of muscle softening. Thirty-days starvation produced slight depletion of the sarcoplasmic fraction, collagen insolubilization, and muscle hardening. The effect of triploidy was more evident in sea-caged fish, resulting in lower protein solubility at 0.05M NaCl and lower insoluble collagen than diploids. After smoking, protein solubility at 0.8M NaCl was highest in stressed fish, and non-starved fish collagen became insolubilized.