The use of high hydrostatic pressure to shuck oysters and extend shelf-life

High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) was used for mechanically shucking oysters. Microbial, chemical and descriptive evaluations were performed over a 3-4 week period for HHP samples and controls. Results from this study demonstrated that HHP was effective in shucking oysters at 35,000 to 40,000 psi. Results showed that HHP treated oysters maintained higher pH than the control over the storage period. Moisture content of the control decreased about 3% while HHP treated samples increased 2%. Pressure treatment did not significantly inhibit lipase activity during the shelf-life study. It was observed that HHP had a significant effect on reducing initial microbial load by approximately 2 to 4 logs. Descriptive evaluation showed HHP treated oysters had better quality than that of control during the shelf-life period. HHP proved to be an effective method for shucking oysters and extending shelf-life.