Technological improvements in mangrove crab meat processing

Frozen mangrove crab (Ucides cordatus) meat may be purchased from a number of supermarkets or seafood retailers in Fortaleza (Northeastern Brazil). The present study proposes an improvement to crab meat processing, in the form of a crustacean immobilization and execution apparatus (SIAC), as a more sanitary and less traumatizing alternative for slaughtering and extracting the meat of mangrove crabs. The device stuns and/or executes the animals using controlled electrical pulses. The effects of pasteurization on crab meat extracted artisanally and in the laboratory were evaluated in order to minimize health risks to consumers. The two extraction techniques presented different yields: 18.9 versus 25.1 %, respectively, in relation to the weight of the live animal. The corresponding figures in relation to the weight of whole cooked crabs were 21.2 and 28.3%. The meat of crabs stunned with the apparatus (SIAC) was easier to remove from the carapace. Pasteurization was shown to be an efficient means of eliminating fecal and total coliforms, as well as of reducing total bacterial count.