Effect of Transportation Density and Time on Quality of Urechis unicinctus During Live Transportation

The aim of this study was to explore appropriate density and time for waterless live transportation of Urechis unicinctus．Physiological stress and quality indicators of samples in control group, low-density group, medium-density group and high-density group were analyzed at different transport time．Results showed that concentration of cortisol in three density groups was significantly higher than that in control group（P<0.05）．Water holding capacity and lactic acid contents changed significantly after treatment of 24 h（P<0.05）．Transportation density stress had a greater effect on glucose content．Glucose content in high-density group was significantly higher than other two density groups at 12 to 60 h（P<0.05）．There was no significant difference in SOD activities between different densities at 36 h and 60 h, and change of malondialdehyde showed the same trend（P>0.05）．Recommended transport density should not exceed 1.0 kg/L during waterless live transportation to better maintain quality of Urechis unicinctus．