Effects of Automated Depuration System (ADS) on Post Harvest Green Mussels Expulsion of Consumed Bacteria and Impurities / Maglaque, Christopher V.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of Automated Depuration System (ADS) on the post-harvest mussels' expulsion of consumed bacteria and impurities. This study aimed to compare the three methods applied in the harvested mussels which are the No Action Taken Group (NATG), Control Group (CG), and Experimental Group (EG). In the NATG, the harvested mussels were left unadulterated. In CG, the harvested mussels were submerged in a container filled with water. And in EG, the harvested mussels were placed in the developed ADS that served as an intervention. The harvested mussels to which the three (3) methods were applied were tested on the parameters Alive Mussels' Count and Bacterial Content. Thirty (30) mussels were monitored per method for 24 hours, wherein the number of live mussels was recorded every hour. Moreover, the amount of bacterial content was obtained through the test conducted at Better Care Diagnostic Laboratory. In this study, the data gathered were analyzed and evaluated to compare and determine the significant difference in alive mussel count and bacterial content of the three groups, which are the NATG versus CG, NATG versus EG, and CG versus EG, using the Independent t-Test as the statistical tool. As a conclusion, it has been found that there is a significant difference in the number of live mussel and bacterial content between the Experimental Group over the No Action Taken Group and the Control Group. The result showed that more live mussel count and less bacterial content in mussels may be expected through the intervention on the developed Automated Depuration System.