Effects of Five Shucking Methods on Efficiency and Quality of Oyster

In order to explore the impact of different shucking methods on the efficiency and quality of oysters, five methods such as boiling, steaming, microwave, ultra-high pressure, and electric shock were used to open the oysters. The opening rate and the opening size were used as the evaluation indexes of opening efficiency, the freshness, juice loss rate, and the degree of protein denaturation of the occluder muscle were used as the evaluation indexes of quality. The opening efficiency and quality of several opening methods were comprehensively compared, and the feasibility of applying them to the opening of oysters were analyzed. The research results showed that the efficiency of microwave opening was the fastest, and all oysters could be opened in 30 s, followed by ultra-high pressure, steaming and water boiling. Electric shock could open part of oysters, but the opening rate did not reach 100%, a small number of oysters failed to open their shells from beginning to end; microwave-opened oysters had the largest opening size, followed by steaming and boiling. The proportions of opened oysters above 5 mm were 70%, 50% and 20%, respectively. Oysters opened by ultra-high pressure and electric shock had a smaller opening size, basically below 2 mm; the quality of oyster meat after opening the shell was analyzed, and it was found that the quality of oyster meat after electric shock was the closest to that of fresh open-shell oysters, with the smallest temperature rise and the least juice loss, Ca²⁺-ATPase activity was the highest, followed by ultra-high pressure, steaming, boiling and microwave. Comprehensive analysis of the efficiency, size, quality and practical operability of the shell opening, the study concluded that ultra-high pressure was suitable for the processing of small batches of raw oysters; microwave opening was suitable for processing of small batches of dried oysters; steaming had higher shell opening efficiency, larger opening size, and better quality, which could take into account efficiency and quality and was currently the most suitable method of oyster shelling for batch processing.