Transport and Stunning Affect Quality of Arctic Char Fillets

Arctic char transport was conducted using AQUI‐S, gas carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), ice slurry or water for 5.5 h followed by CO 2 or by percussive stunning. The treatment without transport represented the control. At harvest and at 24‐h postmortem, transport in an ice slurry followed by percussive stunning resulted in the highest muscle pH; CO 2 stunning reduced muscle pH regardless of transport treatment. At 24‐h postmortem, the control treatment resulted in the firmest cooked products, while other transport conditions did not affect texture. Stunning with CO 2 produced a firmer texture compared with percussive stunning for cooked products derived from 24‐h and 4‐day postmortem refrigerated fillets. The transport treatment and the stunning method did not affect the muscle pH after a 4‐day storage at 3C.