EFFECTS OF CHLORAMPHENICOL ON POSTMORTEM BIOCHEMICAL-CHANGES IN SCALLOP ADDUCTOR MUSCLE

To clarify the role of endogenous enzymes and bacterial enzymes on post-mortem biochemical changes in scallop adductor muscle, the effects of chloramphenicol (CP) on these changes during storage at 5 and 10-degrees-C were investigated. Both muscle with and without CP added showed the same ATP breakdown pattern; degradation to inosine (HxR) and hypoxanthine (Hx) was not inhibited by CP, therefore, degradation to HxR and Hx was mainly caused by endogenous enzymes. D-Lactic acid, an end product of glycolysis, increased to a certain level in both muscle with CP and muscle without CP in the early stage of storage. The acid level then remained constant in the muscle with CP, but increased markedly as decomposition progressed in the muscle without CP. D-Lactic acid thus forms due to both endogenous and exogenous enzymes. The final content of octopine, another end product of glycolysis, was higher in the muscle with CP than in the muscle without CP, and this difference is thought to be caused by D-lactic acid formation in the muscle without CP.