Comparative composition and shelf-life of fillets of wild and cultured turbot ( Scophthalmus maximus ) and Atlantic halibut ( Hippoglossus hippoglossus )

Abstract

Turbot and Atlantic halibut are highly valued fish species. However,very little is known about fillet shelf-life characteristics associated withboth species. Thus, fillet α-tocopherol content and proximate compositionof wild turbot (1.5 kg) and Atlantic halibut (1.1 kg)caught off the south coast of Ireland and the north-west coast of Iceland,respectively, were investigated. In addition, the susceptibility of fillets, storedunder retail conditions, to lipid oxidation and colour change was studied.Proximate composition analysis showed that turbot had significantly highermoisture (P < 0.001) and lower protein (P < 0.001) contents compared toAtlantic halibut. Atlantic halibut incorporated significantly higher (P <0.001) levels of α-tocopherol into fillets than turbot. Over 14 days ofstorage on ice, fillets from Atlantic halibut exhibited significantly lower (P =0.020) levels of lipid oxidation than those of turbot. However, malondialdehyde(MDA) concentrations were generally very low, never exceeding 0.6 μgg−1 fillet. Turbot maintained a significantly higher (P< 0.001) pH over the storage period. The lightness (L* values) offillets from both species increased over 14 days of storage, but wassignificantly higher (P < 0.001) in Atlantic halibut than in turbot. Turbotdeveloped a relatively intense yellow colour during storage (decrease in hueangle and increase in b* values), whereas this was not the case forAtlantic halibut. The results of this study demonstrate that fillets of wildAtlantic halibut stored on ice, were less prone to lipid oxidation anddiscolouration than those of wild turbot. However, quality changes in turbotwere very small showing that both fish have tremendous shelf-life capacities interms of lipid oxidation. These findings are considered in the context of knownmaterial for farmed fish.