A comparative study of the effect of different cooking methods on the quality and shucking of mussels

Fresh mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) were heat-treated for various time intervals, using moist-heat and dry-heat processes such as boiling, steaming, baking, and microwaving. The effect of heat treatment methods on cooking loss and shucking (shell opening) of mussels was investigated. All heat treatment methods succeeded 100% shell opening. Results indicated that cooking loss and shell opening of the heat-treated mussels significantly increased with increasing process time. The cooking loss was for the majority of the heat-treated mussels higher than 20% while greater cooking loss values were recorded for the steam-treated mussels. Microwave heating scored better results in shell opening of the mussels compared to the other methods. Multiple response optimization of process parameters revealed that the microwave treatment was found to be the optimal for improving the quality (cooking loss) and the efficiency of shell opening of mussels. The color of the heat-treated mussel meat was more or less orange. Practical applications Nowadays, the food industry faces the challenge to explore new methodologies in order to improve the quality characteristics of their products and, thereby, gain the consumers acceptability. During mussel heat processing, cooking loss is a very important factor strongly related to the heat treatment methods and affects the quality and yield of the final product. Although heating may lead to significant cooking losses, it is required in order to facilitate the shucking of mussels. To address this matter, in this study, the effect of different heat treatment methods on cooking loss and shell opening of mussels are investigated. The results suggest that the microwave heat treatment method can potentially be implemented in industrial mussel processing, guarantying better quality end products than the other methods do.