Inorganic Constituents in Fresh and Processed Cannonball Jellyfish (Stomolophus meleagris)

Abstract

Cannonball jellyfish (Stomolophus meleagris) from the Gulf of Mexico has been under investigation as a potential source to meet the market demand for jellyfish food in Asia. Traditionally, jellyfish are processed by curing fresh jellyfish with salt and alum, and then the cured jellyfish are desalted in water before consumption. Very little is known about the inorganic constituents of jellyfish. In this study fresh and desalted processed cannonball jellyfish were examined for 22 elements using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. The desalted processed tissues had significantly higher Al concentrations (leg, 688 μg/g; umbrella, 271 μg/g) than fresh jellyfish (leg, 0.29 μg/g; umbrella,1.63 μg/g). Concentrations of macro elements, such as Ca, Mg, K, and Na, were high in fresh jellyfish and rather low in desalted processed tissue. The results should be useful in providing biological and nutritional information about fresh and processed jellyfish. Keywords: Jellyfish; ICP; mineral elements

Mislabeling of an “unlabelable” seafood sold on the European market: The jellyfish

“…This treatment eliminates the compounds responsible for the sting and creates an elastic and crispy texture, which is generally agreed to be the most desirable characteristic of prepared jellyfish (Hsieh, Leong, & Barnes, 1996;Li & Hsieh, 2004;Rudloe, 1992). The whole body is used, but products based on heads are roughly twice as expensive as those containing tentacles, due to the higher degree of shrinkage, weightloss, and processing time (Nishikawa, Thu, Ha, & Thu, 2008).…”

“…Japan is another leading country in terms of consumption (Hsieh et al, 1996;Omori & Nakano, 2001;Suelo, 1986). In the last twenty years, an increase in the demand for jellyfish together with a reduction in the stock size of edible Asian species has led to the need for new resources overseas.…”

“…The aim was to increase knowledge of a "little known product" and to stimulate debate on the open issues regarding jellyfish, which is rapidly spreading in Western markets, even though it is still not well-defined from a commercial point of view. In addition, we wanted to focus on the possible hazards related to the consumption of jellyfish products, which are mainly due to the presence of high levels of aluminum, as has been reported in previous studies (Food Safety Focus, 2010;Hsieh et al, 1996;Wong, Chung, Kwong, Yin Ho, & Xiao, 2010).…”

Microbiological Survey on Jellyfish Food Products: Preliminary Results

“…Infatti, superata la naturale avversione del consumatore occidentale, la medusa rientrerebbe appieno nel trend commerciale del mercato alimentare moderno, sempre più indirizzato verso prodotti salutistici: in particolare, essendo i celenterati prevalentemente costituiti da acqua (95%) e proteine, e praticamente privi di grassi, risultano alimenti a basso tenore calorico; inoltre, si ritiene abbiano anche varie proprietà medicamentose, alcune delle quali scientificamente dimostrate, come la capacità di combattere l'artrite e diminuire la pressione arteriosa (3,4).…”

On the conditions of the 2012 cannonball jellyfish (Stomolophus meleagris) bloom in Golfo de Santa Clara: a fishery opportunity?

“…US and Mexican seafood buyers now regularly supply Asian markets with jellyfish (Hsieh et al . ). In the last 5 years, Mexico in particular has taken advantage of these new market opportunities and fisheries are being established throughout the Gulf of California, generating significant revenues in Sonora and Sinaloa (Garrido et al .…”