Attendrissement enzymatique de chair de mollusques

Two types of marine molluscs were studied. The highly individual characteristics of the flesh of these two shellfish, in this case its firmness, led us to analyse the behaviour of the foot muscle, the firmest part, as a function of heat and to the determination of the different temperatures at which the denaturation of the main constituent proteins occurs. This firmness makes the muscles difficult to chew to such an extent that they have acted as a break to consumption. These shell-fish have very similar proportions of myofibrillar and connective proteins, both of- which are responsible for the texture of meat. This similarity of composition determined the choice of an enzymatic preparation (protease V100) capable of acting simultaneously on both these types of proteins. The canning production tests using these shell-fish gave satisfactory results for Buccinum undatum (whelk) With Glycymeris glycymeris (Dog Cockle), two distinct cases were revealed. In medium-sized specimens or those with few intestines, satisfactory tenderizing of the flesh was observed in the canned product. However, the difficulties relating to the size of the intestines in specimens in periods of sexual maturation could not be overcome.