NATIVE OYSTER DEPURATON: EFFECT ON QUALITY AND CONSUMER PERCEPTION
depuration, oysters, consumer, perception
Seafood consumption safety is associated with the presence of biological, microbiological and chemical contaminants, whose legal limits are technical barriers for their commercialization and consumption. Among seafood, bivalve mollusks (oysters, mussels, clams and scallops) are filtering organisms that basically feed on microalgae, microorganisms and debris in the water. Therefore, bioaccumulates contaminants in their environment habitats and may be related to food poisoning occurrence. Because they are filters, they can be depurated after harvesting. Depuration is an efficient practice to reduce contaminants levels in bivalves, which became acceptable for human consumption. Depuration is a pre-processing activity in seafood industries or even in marine aquaculture. However, not all producers or fishermen carry out depuration, and therefore, many consumers do not know the depurate oyster characteristics. It is essential to investigate if there is a risk associated with this consumption as well as the perception in order in relation to the product for subsidiary producers and traders in relation to the customer profile for purified oysters. Thus, this project aims to conduct assess the efficiency of a commercial native oyster purification system and investigate the consumer's attitude towards oysters.