Nutritional composition of tuna processing waste and its potential for human dietary applications

Abstract

The tuna processing industry generates substantial quantities of waste in the form of head, red meat, bone and viscera. This study compared the proximate composition, fatty acid profile and lipid quality indices of head, visceral mass, bone and red meat of yellow fin tuna Thunnus albacares. Significant differences were observed among these components, particularly with respect to fat and ash content. The head exhibited the highest protein content, while bone had the highest fat content. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) ranged from 35.65 to 50.80% of total fatty acids across the samples. The lipid quality indices including the Atherogenicity Index (AI) and Thrombogenicity Index (TI) were found to be notably lower in red meat. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed positive correlations among the biochemical compositions of head, visceral mass, bone and red meat. The study also explored the various potential applications of tuna processing waste, highlighting its value in the development of nutritionally beneficial biomolecules.