OCCURRENCE OF PARALYTIC PHYCOTOXINS IN SC ALLOPS FROM ASIA

A shipment of common scallops (Patinopecten yessoensis) imported to Fr ance was inspected by the Veterinary Bureau. This shipment was compose d of 1 kg bags of frozen muscles and gonads. The occurrence of paralyt ic phycotoxins and the partition between the two organs were Investiga ted. The mouse bioassay recommended by the AOAC was used for running t wo sets of toxicological evaluation with composite samples from 104 ba gs. One set of determinations was performed on attached muscles + gona ds from 67 bags and on gonads from 37 bags : the bio-assay was negativ e respectively in 26 out of the 67 bags and 2 among the other 37 bags. A second set of determinations was performed on each of the two organ s of 3 animals selected from 11 bags of the first set. A wide variatio n of contamination was noticed between bags, and from one animal to an other the same in bag. The toxicological evaluation was confirmed in s ome selected samples by high performance liquid chromatography determi nation. Gonyautoxins 1, 2, 3, 6 (B2) and saxitoxin were present in var iable amounts. The toxin contents were higher in gonads than in muscle s but in some samples there was a very small difference between the tw o organs. Since experimental studies on scallop showed that the muscle is free of toxins, a post mortem transfer of toxins from the gonad to the muscle can be hypothetized in the investigated samples.