Structural and Ultrastructural Changes in Muscle Tissue of Skate (Raja kenojel) during Fermentation at 10°C

ABSTRACT

Structural changes in skate muscle during fermentation could significantly influence flesh quality of products. Thus, the objective of this study was to characterize the structural and ultrastructural changes of skate muscle that occur during fermentation. In skate flesh samples, typical muscle tissue experiences changes, including detachment of myofibrils from the endomysium, fiber to fiber, and increase of the intermyofibrillar spaces during fermentation. Even though the myofibrillar ultrastructure was drastically damaged during fermentation, the most significant feature in muscle tissue was aggregate formation involving protein–protein and protein–water interactions. Based on our results, it is assumed that the protein aggregation and denaturation of structural changes in the skate muscle during fermentation contributed to the unique textural and organoleptic characteristics of the final skate products.

KEYWORDS:

• Fermented skate
• muscle tissue
• structure
• ultrastructure
• gel formation

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea grant funded by the South Korean Government (NRF 2017R1D1A1B03035782).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea [NRF 2017R1D1A1B03035782].