Processing of value added products from green mussel

Cultured green mussel from Sriracha Fishery Research Station, Amphur Sriracha, Cholburi was found to be good quality and safe for consumption or for further processing. The protein content of fresh mussel was 10.47+-0.08 g/100 g which was higher than the prior reported value, but other components were not significantly different. The heavy metal contents determined for Hg, Cd and Pb were found at 0.035, 0.215 and 0.040 mg/Kg, respectively. These values were much lower than the critical limits set by the Ministry of Public Health Declaration number 98 (1986) and the Standard of Imported Foods of Italy. The Total bacterial counts were 5.4-9.4 x 10**(3) CFU/g. The MPN/g of coliform bacteria was 11-36. Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus and Vibrio cholerae were not found in 25 g sample. However, V. parahemolyticus in a few samples were found. The coliform bacterial counts indicated that the green mussel cultured in Sriracha area could be categorized as Group B, therefore, it had to be cooked or depurated for 36 hours before consumption. It was found that green mussel could be processed to various kinds of value added products. The high potential for commercialization were green mussel sauce, frozen battered and breaded green mussel and smoked green mussel. The quality of green mussel sauce was equivalent to the commercial oyster sauce with the same sensory evaluation scores but the nutritive value was much higher and the production cost was lower. The shelf-life at ambient temperature was longer than 9 weeks. Frozen battered and breaded green mussel had high preference score with a shelf-life longer than 6 months. Smoked green mussel could be kept under refrigeration for more than 1.5 months. Other products being developed were seasoned green mussel, green mussel sausage, green mussel fermented sausage (sai krok isarn) and green mussel cracker. All of these could be developed further for processing at a family scale industry.