Improving Meat Quality and Acceptability of Mussels and Other Shellfishes at Prolonged Depuration Period (C3)

Project Description:

The project will be carried out for 9 months and focus on improving the meat quality and acceptability during depuration of more than 72 hours (4 days and beyond). It will be limited to using at most 3 species of commercially-important shellfish like mussel, oyster and other bivalves. The study will be using allowable food additives such as sucrose (de Guzman, 1985), protein skimmers (Barrento, 2015) and other additives that contribute to improving the meat quality attributes such as flavor and texture.

This project aims to contribute to the 1) development of more competitive shellfish products; 2) readiness of Philippine shellfish products for the domestic and export market; and 3) readiness of the shellfish industry for the ASEAN integration – open market within the ASEAN regions.

Benefits:

• More competitive mussel products – safe and high quality
• Readiness of Philippine mussel products for the domestic and export market
• Readiness of the mussel industry – open market within the ASEAN regions
• Inclusive economic growth
• More income to mussel farmers, processors and other links in the supply chain of mussel products

Target Beneficiaries:

• Prospective investors to set up depuration facility
• Mussel farmers
• Mussel processors-exporters
• Consuming public

Locations:

• Aklan and Samar