Lobster illustration. (Photo: Louis Hansel / Unsplash)
LOBSTER is one of the marine animals that has very beneficial nutritional content for the human body. Lobster is often consumed by the public because of its thick flesh and delicious taste. But behind that deliciousness, have you ever noticed lobsters turn red when cooked? How could that happen?
Quoted from Mental Floss , Friday (16/10/2020), New England Aquarium scientist Anita Kim explained to Live Science that the red color was actually only the result of a chemical reaction. The turquoise hue of lobsters is used to disguise themselves from predators such as cod, haddock and other large fish in the sea.
This color results from the combination of two molecules. One of them is astaxanthin, a bright red carotenoid that lobsters absorb when they eat foods containing these molecules. Another molecule is crustacyanin, a protein that is already present in lobsters.
When astaxanthin and crustacyanin bond, it twists the molecules into different shapes, which changes the way they reflect light.
Then when boiled, the heat causes these molecules to change into a new shape. They release astaxanthin and turn red.
Biochemist of Italy's Marche Polytechnic University Michele Cianci analogizes this as a rubber band that is shaped in such a way, but will eventually return to its original shape.
The same is true of lobsters or prawns that change from pale gray to pink when cooked.
Anjasman Situmorang, Journalist