Soft Flesh Problem in Freshwater Rainbow Trout Investigated by Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Histology |
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| Authors: | L. Foucat R. G. Taylor R. Labas J. P. Renou |
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| Affiliation: | Authors Foucat and Renou are with Structures Tissulaires et Interactions Moléculaires, Station de Recherche sur la Viande, INRA-Theix, 63122 Saint Genès Champanelle, France.;Authors Taylor and Labas are with Microscopie, Histologie Hisochimie, Station de Recherche sur la Viande, INRA-Theix, 63122 Saint Genès Champanelle, France. Direct inquiries to author Foucat (E-mail: ). |
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| Abstract: | ABSTRACT: To investigate the soft flesh problem in rainbow trout, the dynamics of water in postmortem white muscle were studied by magnetic resonance imaging, histology, and rigor index (θ r ) measurements. At 24-h postmortem, the trout identified as having the soft flesh problem (θ r ≥ 40°) differed from the others (0°≤θ r ≤ 20°) by longer transverse relaxation time (T2≥ 45 ms) and smaller diffusion anisotropy (DA ≤ 1.3), which proved to be the most relevant nuclear magnetic resonance parameter for an early diagnosis of the soft flesh problem. To interpret these results, we hypothesized an early and exacerbated tenderization phenomenon because of protein denatur-ation, inducing important modifications in fine connections that anchor the 3-dimensional structure of the tissue. The incidence of 3 slaughtering procedures on rigor were tested, and no differences were detected for trout presenting the soft flesh problem. |
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| Keywords: | trout rigor soft flesh MRI histology |
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