ABSTRACT
The hepatopancreas (called "fat" by consumers) is often consumed along with the meat and is an important ingredient in regional crawfish recipes and cooking. The color of the cooked hepatopancreas in red swamp crawfish ranges from yellow to dark orange and is very pleasing to the eye. In white crawfish, this material may be yellow to green and does not have the same eye appeal. In addition, the meat of the white crawfish appears to be lighter in color. Some consumers claim that there is also a taste difference, the white crawfish having a less desirable flavor. Marshal1 (1988) did a comprehensive study on many of the factors affecting the processing of freshwater crawfish, including a detailed evaluation of flavor and other characteristics. Marshal1 conducted the study using both instrumental analysis and an untrained taste panel and compared the results. Color, texture, and flavor of both the meat and hepatopancreas were examined. The study showed no significant difference in meat texture between the two species. Mean Instron shear force values for red swamp crawfish and white river crawfish were 1.56 kilograms/gram and 1.60 kg/g, respectively. These findings agreed with those of the panelists, in that they could not distinguish any significant differences in texture. Surprisingly, the panelists could not distinguish any significant differences between the color of the meat, appearance of the hepatopancreas, or the taste of the product. An
instrumental analysis of color, using a Hunterlab Tristimulus Colorimeter, showed a highly significant difference in both the meat and hepatopancreas - supporting claims made by consumers that the red swamp crawfish has redder meat and the white crawfish has lighter-colored meat. The instrumental analysis of the hepatopancreas showed that the red crawfish typically has a red-orange hepatopancreas that changed little over a 20-hour storage period, but that the hepatopancreas of the white crawfish is greener at the time of cooking and that the green color intensified over this 20-hour storage period.
