Dietary impact on texture, gaping and liquid loss in fillets of farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.)

Abstract

A seven-month long feeding trial was conducted to investigate the dietary influence on texture, gaping and liquid loss in fillets of Atlantic salmon. During the first 3 months of the experiment the salmon where fed a diet with high fat content (36%) and a diet with low fat content (18%). One group where also fed the low fat diet in half ration. As expected, this resulted in groups of salmon with significant differences in body weight and fat content. By achieving this, we could study the differences in flesh quality and fat composition among groups with different growth potential through the autumn. These groups where then mixed in new net pens and fed different diets for the next 4 months. The new diets had equal fat content, but different main lipid source (rapeseed oil/marine oil) and protein level. Main dietary oil source in the diet did not affect the slaughter parameters, except for the slaughter yield. The fatty acid composition of the fillets, were also strongly affected by dietary oil source. Quality parameters were not affected by oil source, except for a somewhat lower liquid loss in the group fed the marine70 diet. The present study did not see any significant effect of adding extra amino acids to a diet in terms of slaughter parameters, fat and fatty acid composition and quality parameters.