Extractive Components in the Skeletal Muscle from Ten Different Species of Scombroid Fishes

Abstract

A slightly astringent and sour taste of skipjack meat is generally disliked. Skipjack is classed as the family Scombridae. Even among fishes belonging to the family Scombridae, the taste of the raw meat differs greatly from species to species. In this study, we attempt to compare the chemical composition of extracts of the ordinary muscle of fish of this family to clarify the peculiar taste of skipjack muscle. The compositions of free amino acids (FAA), organic acids (OA), and nucleotides (NUC) were compared among ten different species. The total FAA exceeded l,000mg/100g in the meat of skipjack and frigate mackerel, but was only 300—400 mg/100 g in the meat of Spanish mackerel. The imidazole compounds accounted for 57-96% of the total ninhydrin positive substances in all samples tested, but anserine was not detected in mackerel. Skipjack and frigate mackerel were richer in lactic and malic acids than other species. The total NUC content was 230—500mg/lOOg and the IMP content was 150—410mg/100g in the muscle of all species of the fish examined. Our experiments show that skipjack and frigate mackerel meat generally thought to taste astringent contains large amounts of extractive components and small amounts of as yet unidentified OA and NUC. The astringency and sourness of the meat is therefore likely to be caused by some or a combination of such compounds. © 1994, The Japanese Society of Fisheries Science. All rights reserved.