Heat‐Induced Textural and Histological Changes of Ordinary and Dark Muscles of Yellowfin Tuna

When a fresh specimen of yellowfin tuna Neothunnus albacora was analyzed, the cross‐sectional area of ordinary (white) muscle fiber was 3.5 times larger than that of dark muscle. As heating temperature was raised, the shear force of dark muscle became progressively larger than that of ordinary muscle. Simultaneously, the A band in the ultrastructure of both muscles was stained more densely. While the Z line in I band of dark muscle still remained, that of ordinary muscle disappeared completely by heat treatment at 60°C for 30 min. Therefore, the differences in toughness change during heat treatment correlated well with that fiber sizes and ultrastructures of the two types of muscle.