Cold storage of Pacific oysters out of water: biometry, intervalval water and sensory assessment

Due to the important economic activity of oyster production in France, microalgal toxic events represent a significant constraint for shellfish farmers who face closures of bivalve production-sites. The frequency of closures of 3 weeks or less represents half of the total closures along the French coasts. Cold storage could be a simple and affordable solution for temporary and short-term storage before commercialisation. A stock of marketable Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas was therefore stored during 22 days in non-immersed conditions at 3 degrees C with 100% humidity. At the end of the experiment, the oyster mortality rate remained at a low level of less than 3.5%. The sensory attributes, odour, appearance, texture and flavour, did not show significant variations. However, the oyster total weight and fresh flesh weight exhibited losses of 10.5% and a 16.6% after 15 days of storage. At the same time, intervalval water showed a decrease in quality with 20% of the samples characterized by an absence of intervalval water with a flesh more or less moist. These results suggested that the cold storage represents a partial solution to sustain the commercialisation of bivalves during closures of 15 days.