NUCLEOTIDE CATABOLISM DURING THE RIPENING OF ANCHOVIES (ENGRAULIS-ENCRASICHOLUS)

During the ripening of salt cured anchovies (Engraulis encrasicholus), fish muscle changes by means of autolytic reactions which are not cle arly described in the existing Literature. In this report we present t he results obtained using high performance liquid chromatography to st udy nucleotide catabolism throughout the ripening process of anchovies . The sequence of nucleotide catabolism progressed rapidly during the first phase of ripening, showing a significant decrease of inosine mon ophosphate (IMP); inosine and hypoxanthine levels increased during thi s phase and then remained stable for the remaining time of ripening. N o correlation was found between optimum ripeness of anchovies and chan ges in nucleotide levels during the ripening process.