This study examined the rigor index and its relation with rate decrease nucleotides of a cultivated Amazonian fish, Colossoma macropomum, stored in ice. The rigor index was detected 20 minutes (IR=80.1%) after death in ice. Total muscle contraction occurred after 30 minutes (IR=99.4%) and total resolution of rigor after 15 days in ice. ATP concentrations decreased after 20 min to about half, 50%; after 30 minutes residual ATP was 30% and after 2 hours practically disappeared. This suggests that the C. macropomum specimens stored in ice presented the cold shock phenomenon rather than rigor-mortis. The K value varied little up to 2 hours after death and then increased progressively up to 11.5% on the 9th day of storage.
Colossoma macropomum; pisciculture; store in ice; nucleotides; rigor-mortis