THE MARKET FOR ALTERNATIVE SPECIES OF SHRIMP (PARAPENEUS LONGIROSTRIS) MINIMALLY PROCESSED TO INCREAS THE SHELF LIFE

A reason that has put at the center of attention the crustaceans has been the growing demand for fast food products to which these fishes are particularly suitable. A second reason lies in the fact that, in recent years, eating habits have privileged the "pharmafood" products to prevent any diseases. Crustaceans, with a low content in lipids and with a high protein fraction, fully meet this requirement. Today the world production of shellfish has increased, recording since the 1980s, an unprecedented boom. This highlights also the dependence of European Mediterranean States from third countries, in particular in other geographical areas, although crustaceans have minor impact on the level of Community trade. Since under this trade category, the total production of shrimp from fish in the Mediterranean Sea (especially those of Italy) proved to be insufficient for an increasing Community market demand. It is of some interest to understand the trends in trade flows in the Mediterranean area, in which the greater supply of such products (fresh and/or "processed") for the Community markets takes place and the Parapenaeus longirostris feeds traffic flow represented mostly by "transformed" (frozen) product, and the corresponding data that track the trend will be examined here using the international official statistical source of FAO. The aim of the working group is to contribute to the development of Mediterranean fisheries through research and technology transfer of new high-value production processes aimed at sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources and the maximization of the value of the fish. This paper proposes for the first time the use of the species of shrimp P. Longirostris of the Mediterranean sea to realize precooked trays of V range and analyze the evolution of the process of melanosis with respect to commercial products in general coming from the Atlantic Ocean. The enzyme polyphenol oxidase (PPO) is responsible for the process of melanosis in shrimp extracts of P. Longirostris. The results show that the PPO in the P. Longirostris has a significant increase of activity during the preservation by chilling (p<0,005), with a low increasing after two days of preservation. The PPO showed instead in the Indian Prawns a decrease of activity after 3 days. In conclusion, from the data obtained, the species P. Longirostris could be used to obtain minimally processed and pre-cooked shrimp products able to increase the shelf-life (SL) as an alternative to commercial products.