Commercially sterilized mussel meats (Mytilus Chilensis): A study on process yield

摘要

The processing steps most responsible for yield loss in the manufacture of canned mussel meats are the thermal treatments of precooking to remove meats from shells, and thermal processing (retorting) to render the final canned product commercially sterile for long-term shelf stability. The objective of this study was to investigate and evaluate the impact of different combinations of process variables on the ultimate drained weight in the final product, while verifying that any differences found were statistically and economically significant. The process variables selected for this study were: a) precooking time, b) brine salt concentration, and c) retort temperature. Results indicated two combinations of process variables producing the widest difference in final drained weight, designated best combination with 35% and 29% yield respectively. Significance of this difference was determined by employing a Bootstrap which assumes an empirical distribution of statistical error. This is a difference of nearly 6 percentage points in total yield, and represents a 20% increase in yield that could be realized if this best process were adopted to replace one with poorly chosen process conditions. This difference in yield could have significant economic impact important to the mussel canning industry.