I have heard that if a lobster dies before being cooked, it releases a poison and becomes to toxic to eat. Curious Minds want to Know.
Lobster, like other crustaceans, spoils relatively quickly after it’s killed. Lobster that’s killed or allowed to die and then not prepared right away can contain toxins created by bacteria consuming its dead flesh.
They don’t “release” toxins, and there’s nothing magical about boiling it alive that makes it safer to eat. A huge amount of lobster made available to restaurants and commercial packers is pre-killed and shipped frozen. The head/thorax is usually cut off and discarded before freezing, because it contains the soft bits which spoil the fastest. The tail-flesh will last longer if it’s separated.
Whoops, pardon me for neglecting the obligatory:
Welcome to the SDMB, Curious Minds Want To Know!
(Excellent GQ name.)
Upon death the lobster releases some sort of enzyme and begins digesting itself.
Marc
As do all living things, from cows to apples. It doesn’t constitute a poison, nor does it make the food toxic to eat.
What is that enzyme called and how does it work? I assume it must be released at the cellular level…
It’s not an enzyme, it’s a whole slew of enzymes, the process itself being called autolysis. Cells need all the ezymes that are capable of digesting all parts of the cell itlsef in order ot be able to remove damaged parts, upgrade worn out components and so forth. Obviously those enzymes can’t just float free in the cell all the time, and they don’t, they are stored in membrane bound organelles. Whent he cell dies the membranes gradually rupture and the enzymes flood the cell, digetsing it from the inside out. It’s not toxic, and is a large part of the basis of ‘hanging’ game meat for several weeks or months. Game meat tends to be tough, but by hanging it you give it time for autolysis to self-digest the animal. It’s like a built in chemical tenderiser for the days bfore they invented chemical tenderisers.
Got it. Thanks. The reason, btw, I asked for the name of the enzyme is the way you answered the previous question about “some sort of enzyme” by saying “it”. 