Enzymatic peeling of shrimp

In general, shrimp are peeled by hand, but a limited amount of peeling is done by machine. Both operations are expensive. In addition, the inadequacy of available hand labor is becoming an acute problem. For these reasons, newer innovations of peeling are being sought. These methods include the use of chemicals and enzymes. Experimental results have been quite satisfactory. In studies using enzymes, 85 to 90 percent of shrimp can be peeled with the tail remaining. Yields of the peeled product do not differ from those resulting from hand peeling. The color of the product is an appealing light pink. The enzymatic treatment has a slight tenderizing effect and shrimp thus treated exhibited as much as a tenn fold reduction in the total plate count of bacteria.