NUCLEOTIDE CATABOLISM IN COLD STORED ADDUCTOR MUSCLE OF SCALLOP (ZYGOCHLAMYS PATAGONICA)

The postmortem catabolism of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in cold stored scallop adductor muscles was examined. The change In the pH of stored muscles was also investigated. The ATP content increased for a short time after death and afterwards decreased up to 24 h of storage. Thereafter, the nucleotide level remained unchanged up to 120 h of storage. The ADP content slightly decreased up to 48 h and after that remained unchanged. The AMP slowly accumulated to around 15% of the total nucleotide concentration when the ATP decreased. Small amounts of IMP were detected in all samples. Conversely, adenosine (Ado) was not detected. Inosine (HxR) slightly increased after 48 h of storage and hypoxanthine (Hx.) significantly increased after 24 h. The 260/250‐absorbance ratio of muscle extracts and the pH of stored muscles fell sharply up to 24 h and then decreased slowly. The Hx contents were positively correlated (P < 0.01) with both the Hx/AMP ratios and the K values.