Emerging and potential technologies for facilitating shrimp peeling: A review

Ready-to-eat shrimp processing is challenging due to the complex biological design with the shell tightly connected to the meat. Several techniques have been developed to weaken or loosen this connection, thus facilitating the subsequent peeling. The loosening process is typically undertaken by maturing the shrimps on ice or in brine, which requires several days, consequently risking loss in food quality and safety. To overcome those issues, developing novel technologies that not only assist the shell loosening but also retain the meat quality, safety and yield, is of paramount importance. This article reviews some essential characteristics of shrimp, the current methods of maturation, the use of the emerging technologies (high pressure, microwave, ultrasound, and enzyme) to facilitate the peeling of foods and clarify the potential of using them in shrimp shell removal.