Estimating the carbohydrate reserves in fish

• Published in: Journal of Fish Biology
• Main Authors: Black, D., Malcolm Love, R.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1988
• Subjects: Aquatic Science; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Gadus morhua
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.1988.tb05371.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1095-8649.1988.tb05371.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1095-8649.1988.tb05371.x

The post‐mortem pH value of the muscle of cod, Gadus morhua L., is shown to be a valid indicator of the muscle glycogen level after rapid capture, stunning and rapid sampling (a level thought to be little different from that current before capture). Good correlations between initial glycogen values and post‐mortem pH were obtained in fish of a wide range of nutritional states comprising fed, starved for different periods, and refed on different diets after starvation. Inconsistencies in results published in the literature are attributed to variations in the initial glycogen values as measured , which in turn stem from the fish struggling on capture, differing degrees of which reduce muscle glycogen by different amounts but probably do not affect the post‐mortem pH. Variations in the time taken to sample the glycogen would also affect the results.