Effect of Season, Location, Filleting Regime and Storage on Water-Holding Properties of Farmed Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar L.).

The effect of season, localization, filleting regime and storage on water-holding properties of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) was investigated. Salmon was sampled at two different slaughter facilities (in the north and south of Norway) in autumn and spring and divided in pre- and post-rigor groups, which were sampled before and after filleting. This gave a total of 16 groups that were analyzed for water-holding capacity (WHC), water content and pH. In addition, a storage trial was performed to assess the effect of all the design variables on drip loss and the composition of the drip loss during up to 18 days of storage. WHC was significantly affected by both rigor status and filleting, while water content was affected by localization and filleting. In addition, post-rigor filleting gave significantly decreased drip loss compared to pre-rigor filleting. However, storage time had the highest impact on the drip loss. Based on this, it is concluded that pre-rigor filleted salmon have excellent water-holding properties and a great potential for early processing (pre-rigor processing). It was however difficult to find a clear connection between the drip loss and the water-holding capacity of the muscle.