Study of the Chemical Properties of the Meat of some Fish Imported to Iraq

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the validity of three species of frozen fish imported to Iraq. A comparison was made between the state of the fish (whole or fillets) for the same species, and then a comparison was made between the different species of fish, which are Seabream Sparus aurata, seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax and tuna, Tunnus alalunga by conducting some chemical tests of frozen fish samples, as the percentage of moisture, protein, fat and ash were estimated. The results showed significant differences (P < 0.05) in the moisture content of whole seabream and fillets amounted to 72.10 and 75.16%, respectively, and in seabass it amounted to 73.05 and 74.48%, while in whole tuna fish and fillets it was 75.63 and 76.16%, respectively. No significant differences were recorded in the percentage of protein for the state of fish among the three species (whole and fillets), as it reached 18.19 and 15.60% in seabream in both whole and fillet states, respectively, in seabass 17.59 and 17.10%, respectively, and in tuna fish 18.40 and 18.47% respectively. As for the percentage of fat in the whole fish and fillets of the three species, no significant differences were recorded for whole seabream and fillets, amounting to 8.23 and 7.36%, respectively, while significant differences were recorded in seabass fish between the state of whole fish and fillets, amounting to 7.72 and 6.57%, respectively, in tuna fish, 4.42 and 2.91%, respectively. The results did not record significant differences in the ash percentage of whole seabream and fillets, which amounted to 1.23 and 1.15%, respectively, 1.03 and 1.26% for seabass, respectively, while it was 1.13 and 1.62% for whole tuna and fillets, respectively. The results of the study concluded that the meat of seabream, seabass and tuna imported to Iraq is considered suitable for human consumption after undergoing standards and comparison with the specifications approved locally and internationally.