Intrinsic Antioxidant Capacity of Fish Muscle as Potential Link Between Pre-Harvest Biology and Post Mortem Flesh...

The present review examines markers of intrinsic antioxidant capacity in fish muscle, how these markers change after death, and the point to which their post mortem evolution is related to flesh quality and shelf life in farmed fish. Aquaculture parameters such as temperature, salinity and fish feeds can affect intrinsic antioxidant systems throughout the fish life cycle, but, in addition to the effect of aquaculture variables, the redox starting point of muscle at death can be affected by pre-slaughter stressors such as transportation, crowding, fasting, and handling. Based on the results of the studies reviewed in this work, it can be postulated that the rate of post mortem lipid and protein oxidation of fish fillets is not determined only by processes occurring after death or during storage, but may also be influenced by the antioxidant status of axial skeletal muscle. This postulation offers an important mechanistic link between (i) pre-slaughter conditions (such as aquaculture production systems, environmental factors, feeding regime, handling stress) and (ii) harvesting methods, with these two determining the oxidative stability of fish fillets via shaping the antioxidant capacity of muscle tissue. This approach highlights the value of linking nutritional, husbandry, harvesting and processing practices in order to improve fish welfare, flesh quality and shelf life.