TAUROPINE AND D-LACTATE AS METABOLIC STRESS INDICATORS DURING TRANSPORT AND STORAGE OF LIVE PAUA, (NEW-ZEALAND ABALONE) (HALIOTIS-IRIS)

Pyruvate reductase end products were evaluated as specific indicators of anaerobic stress in the New Zealand paua (Haliotis iris). The foot and shell adductor muscles contained D-lactate and tauropine dehydrogenases: the latter was isolated for the enzymatic determination of tauropine in muscle extracts. Enforced exercise and prolonged exposure to air led to accumulation of tauropine, and to a lesser extent D-lactate, in the foot and adductor. Exercise decreased the glycogen content of both muscles and adenylate energy change in the adductor. Monitoring tauropine and D-lactate should prove useful for quality control of live abalone during culture, transport and storage.