Comparisons of Food Component Characteristics of Wild and Cultured Edible Pufferfishes in Korea

Abstract

To identify the food component characteristics of seven edible pufferfishes (five wild pufferfishes including striped puffer Takifugu xanthopterus; eyespot puffer Takifugu chinensis; purple puffer Takifugu porphyreus; rough-backed puffer Lagocephalus wheeleri; and grass puffer Takifugu niphobles; and two cultured pufferfishes including yellow puffer Takifugu obscurus, and tiger puffer Takifugu rubripes) in Korea, the proximate, fatty/amino acid, chemical and taste compositions were investigated. The proximate compositions were not significantly different among the sampled pufferfishes, whereas grass puffer had lower moisture and crude lipid levels contents, and higher crude protein and ash contents than the other species. The total amino acid levels in wild and cultured pufferfishes were 14,941.6-16,427.9 mg/100 g, and the major amino acids were aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, alanine, leucine, lysine and arginine. Regarding the fatty acid and mineral compositions, the major fatty acids included 22:6n-3, 16:0, 18:1n-9, 20:5n-3, 18:0, 20:4n-3, and 22:5n-3 in that order, and there was a little difference among the sampled pufferfishes. Grass puffer had a higher monoenes ratio, i.e., 16:1n-7 and 18:1n-9, and a lower polyenes ratio than the other pufferfishes. The main minerals detected K, P, Na, S and Ca. Regarding the taste-active compounds, the free amino acid contents of pufferfish extracts were 236.4-428.1 mg/100 g, consisting primarily of taurine, lysine, proline, glycine, alanine and arginine in that order. The amino nitrogen content of the pufferfishes was 84.5-156.4 mg/100 g, and there was a little difference among the species. As for taste intensity, the total taste value of the purple puffer was higher than that of the other pufferfishes.

Integrated application of multi-omics provides insights into cold stress responses in pufferfish Takifugu fasciatus

“…The consumption of T. fasciatus has a long history in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China [25]. Furthermore, the pufferfish is also popular in Korea [26] and Japan [27]: pufferfish sashimi is widely known. As a kind of warm-water fish [28], T. fasciatus has an optimum growing temperature between 23 °C and 32 °C [29].…”

RNA-Sequencing Analysis of the Spleen and Gill of Takifugu rubripes in Response to Vibrio harveyi Infection

“…Takifugu rubripes is becoming one of the most economic aquatic fish species in East Asia (1)(2)(3). The total aquacultural yield of T. rubripes in China reached 17,473 tons in 2019 (4).…”

Classification of Takifugu rubripes, T. chinensis and T. pseudommus by genotyping-by-sequencing

“…Puffer fish of the genus Takifugu (Tetraodonitiformes, Tetraodontidae) are distributed mainly in the Western Pacific Ocean. These are valuable fish species and about 2,200-3,800 tons are caught wild and over 8,000 tons are imported for consumption in the ROK annually [3]. Although several Takifugu species are consumed in East Asia, T. rubripes is the most economically important due to its special flavor [4].…”