Let’S Talk About Lobster And Its Treatment

Let’s talk about lobster and its treatment

Introduction

Generally, the technique of high pressures is applied to products that have been previously vacuum packaged, eliminating pathogenic microorganisms and preventing them from later growing when already packaged. In the case of crustaceans such as the lobster, apart from performing this treatment to eliminate any microbial load present, it is mainly applied to extract the meat from the peel, for this, it is necessary to introduce the living lobster or that has been sacrificed in the equipmentjust at the previous moment to submit to the process and without being packaged.

Developing

 This must be so, since otherwise, after death, when not reaching oxygen to the lobster muscle, its extraction is much more difficult and its extraction is much more difficult. Although what was said above would be the most used application in this type of food, the HPP process can also be carried out once the lobster has been packaged. 

For example, for lobsters that have applied a cooking treatment, the meat is extracted although it can also be performed without eliminating the shell and after packaging them in a vacuum in pneal container sealing hermetically and flexible, capable of enduring modifications in theirvolume are applied to the treatment of high hydrostatic pressures thus guaranteeing their food security, increasing their useful life and reducing the possible recontamination by Listeria or lived.

As already described, the application of the HPP technique is mainly done on lobsters without packaging. After this treatment, the lobster can be kept in different ways: once the shell is extracted, it can be packaged in a vacuum or in a modified atmosphere once the product has been previously frozen. It can also be packaged with the entire shell.

For this, rigid containers are usually used, which contain a tray or barqueta to deposit food and a flexible film to cover it, in turn, high barrier materials and drilling resistant are used that can cause legs, tweezers or tailand at the low temperatures used for conservation.

Apart from this type of containers, lobsters can also be packaged in flexible pillow containers. Another way to pack the lobster after HPP treatment is introducing it into mesh bags. These meshes are made of materials resistant to breaks due to legs, tweezers or tail, keeping the product fresh and being more attractive to the consumer. Technical parameters of treatment application such as temperature, time, pressure, etc.

The high hydrostatic pressures process is to apply a pressure determined by short times on a product that is generally packaged. In this case, it applies to the lobster some level pressure levels to 240 350 MPA during an approximate process of 1 3 minutes at a temperature between 4 and 8 ° C, with a pH and moisture around 6and 80% respectively.

Concrete purpose of treatment in the selected product

As has already been explained above, the main purpose of high hydrostatic pressure treatment in the lobThis process is applied. Other objectives of the HPP process in the lobster may be:

• Remove or significantly reduce the lobster microbial load.
• Increase the lobster life without producing changes in its organoleptic properties, maintaining its initial quality and intact freshness.
• Avoid the use of additives or preservatives, since chemical agents are not used, only water.
• Increase in product life with respect to an unreasonable

conclusion

The life of a lobster packaged in a modified atmosphere at a cooling temperature between -1 to 2ºC is 6-10 days, while the raw lobster being frozen at a temperature of -20ºC is 18 months. On the other hand, at the time that the lobster has been treated through high hydrostatic pressures, its useful life increases with respect to the above 3 weeks, so, under cooling, it would go from having a useful life of 6-10 days to some30 days.