Abstract
The use of a multi-ecological tracer approach provides valuable and complementary insights to investigate the complex biology and ecology of large pelagic fish. Brine immersion freezing is the most common preservation technique used onboard for large fish to be frozen whole until they are delivered for sale and processing. We evaluated the effect of brine freezing on lipid and fatty acid composition, C and N stable isotope ratios, and organochlorine contaminant levels of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) and skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis). Fresh tunas were stored in a saturated sodium chlorine brine immersion tank maintained at −20 °C for 6 weeks, and ecological tracers were analysed on dorsal muscle samples collected before and after brine freezing. No significant effect of the fish preservation technique was found except for δ15N whose signatures slightly increased after a 6-week period of brine immersion. Because N isotopic shift was close to the analytical precision and probably related to a higher risk of salt penetration in small tunas with abraded skin, we consider our results as conservative and conclude that ecological tracers can indeed be analysed on brine-freezing-preserved tunas.
References
Ariz J, Chavance P, Delgado de Molina A, Murua H (2010) European scheme of observers on board purse-seiners in the Indian Ocean. Mahé, IOTC Proceedings of Victoria, p 45
Arrington DA, Winemiller KO (2002) Preservation effects on stable isotope analysis of fish muscle. Trans Am Fish Soc 131:337–342
Aubourg SP, Gallardo JM (2005) Effect of brine freezing on the rancidity development during the frozen storage of small pelagic fish species. Eur Food Res Technol 220:107–112
Aubourg S, Ugliano M (2002) Effect of brine pre-treatment on lipid stability of frozen horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus). Eur Food Res Technol 215:91–95
Balshaw S, Edwards JW, Daughtry BJ, Ross KE (2012) Risk-benefit analysis of fish consumption: fatty acid and mercury composition of farmed southern bluefin tuna, Thunnus maccoyii. Food Chem 131:977–984
Barrow LM, Bjorndal KA, Reich KJ (2008) Effects of preservation method on stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values. Physiol Biochem Zool 81:688–693
Biswas BK, Ji S-C, Biswas AK, Seoka M, Kim Y-S, Kawasaki K-i, Takii K (2009) Dietary protein and lipid requirements for the Pacific bluefin tuna Thunnus orientalis juvenile. Aquaculture 288:114–119
Bodin N, Budzinski H, Le Ménach K, Tapie N (2009) ASE extraction method for simultaneous carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis in soft tissues of aquatic organisms. Anal Chim Acta 643:54–60
Bodin N, N’Gom Ka R, Le Loc’h F, Raffray J, Budzinski H, Peluhet L, Tito de Morais L (2011) Are exploited mangrove molluscs exposed to persistent organic pollutant contamination in Senegal, West Africa? Chemosphere 84:318–327
Burns FD (1985) Tuna handling and refrigeration, NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS, NOAA-NMFS-SWR-011, USA
Cardona L, Alvarez de Quevedo I, Borrell A, Aguilar A (2012) Massive consumption of gelatinous plankton by Mediterranean apex predators. PLoS ONE 7:e31329
Chaouqy N-E, Gallardo JM, El Marrakchi A, Aubourg SP (2008) Lipid damage development in anchovy (Engraulis encrasicholus) muscle during storage under refrigerated conditions. Grasas Aceites 59:309–315
Chapman L (1990) Making the grade ice slurries get top marks for quality product. Aust Fish 7:16–19
Corsolini S, Sara G, Borghesi N, Focardi S (2007) HCB, p, p’-DDE and PCB ontogenetic transfer and magnification in bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) from the Mediterranean Sea. Environ Sci Technol 41:4227–4233
Cury P, Shannon LJ, Shin Y-J (2003) The functioning of marine ecosystems: a fisheries perspective. In: Sinclair M, Valdimarsson G (eds) Responsible fisheries in the marine ecosystem. FAO and CABI publishing, Rome, pp 103–123
de Léon P, Valdivia SI (1994) Studies for preservation of sardine in brine. Mem Fac Fish Hokkaido Univ 41:1–104
De Niro MJ, Epstein S (1978) Influence of diet on the distribution of carbon isotopes in animals. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 42:495–506
De Niro MJ, Epstein S (1981) Influence of diet on the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in animals. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 45:341–351
Deng JC (1977) Effect of freezing and frozen storage on salt penetration into fish muscle immersed in brine. J Food Sci 42:348–351
Dickhut RM, Deshpande AD, Cincinelli A, Cochran MA, Corsolini S, Brill RW, Secor DH, Graves JE (2009) Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) population dynamics delineated by organochlorine tracers. Environ Sci Technol 43:8522–8527
FAO, WHO (1993) Report, fats and oils in human nutrition. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, Rome, pp 49–55 8. The British Nutrition Foundation. Recommendations
Folch J, Lees M, Stanley GHS (1957) A simple method for the isolation and purification of total lipides from animal tissues. J Biol Chem 226:497–509
Fonteneau A, Lucas V, Tewkai E, Delgado A, Demarcq H (2008) Mesoscale exploitation of a major tuna concentration in the Indian Ocean. Aquat Living Resour 21:109–121
Fougére H (1952) The water transfer in codfish muscle immersed in sodium chloride solutions. Fish Res Board Can 9:388
Gallart-Jornet L, Barat JM, Rustad T, Erikson U, Escriche I, Fito P (2007) A comparative study of brine salting of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). J Food Eng 79:261–270
Goñi N, Arrizabalaga H (2010) Seasonal and interannual variability of fat content of juvenile albacore (Thunnus alalunga) and bluefin (Thunnus thynnus) tunas during their feeding migration to the Bay of Biscay. Prog Oceanogr 86:115–123
Graham JB, Koehrn FJ, Dickson KA (1983) Distribution and relative proportions of red muscle in scombrid fishes: consequences of body size and relationships to locomotion and endothermy. Can J Zool 61:2087–2096
Graham B, Grubbs D, Holland K, Popp B (2007) A rapid ontogenetic shift in the diet of juvenile yellowfin tuna from Hawaii. Mar Biol 150:647–658
Grande M (2013) The reproductive biology, condition and feeding ecology of the skipjack, Katsuwonus pelamis, in the Western Indian Ocean. PhD Thesis, University of Basque Country, 229 p
Hebert CE, Arts MT, Weseloh DVC (2006) Ecological tracers can quantify food web structure and change. Environ Sci Technol 40:5618–5623
Iverson SJ, Field C, Don Bowen W, Blanchard W (2004) Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis: a new method of estimating predator diets. Ecol Monogr 74:211–235
Jittinandana S, Kenney PB, Slider SD, Kiser RA (2002) Effect of brine concentration and brining time on quality of smoked rainbow trout fillets. J Food Sci 67:2095–2099
Jusup M, Klanjscek T, Matsuda H, Kooijman SALM (2011) A full lifecycle bioenergetic model for bluefin tuna. PLoS ONE 6:e21903
Kannan K, Corsolini S, Imagawa T, Focardi S, Giesy JP (2002) Polychlorinated -naphthalenes, -biphenyls, -dibenzo-p-dioxins, -dibenzofurans and p, p’-DDE in bluefin tuna, swordfish, cormorants and barn swallows from Italy. AMBIO. J Hum Environ 31:207–211
Kaplan DM, Planes S, Fauvelot C, Brochier T, Lett C, Bodin N, Loc’h L, Tremblay Y, Georges JY (2010) New tools for the spatial management of living marine resources. Curr Opin Environ Sustain 2:88–93
Kojadinovic J, Potier M, Le Corre M, Cosson RP, Bustamante P (2007) Bioaccumulation of trace elements in pelagic fish from the Western Indian Ocean. Environ Pollut 146:548–566
Logan JM, Lutcavage ME (2012) Assessment of trophic dynamics of cephalopods and large pelagic fishes in the central North Atlantic Ocean using stable isotope analysis. Deep Sea Res Part II Top Stud Oceanogr 95:63–73
Lubis Z, Buckle K (1990) Rancidity and lipid oxidation of dried-salted sardines. Int J Food Sci Technol 25:295–303
Medina I, Aubourg S, Pérez Martín R (1995) Composition of phospholipids of white muscle of six tuna species. Lipids 30:1127–1135
Ménard F, Lorrain A, Potier M, Marsac F (2007) Isotopic evidence of distinct feeding ecologies and movement patterns in two migratory predators (yellowfin tuna and swordfish) of the western Indian Ocean. Mar Biol 153:141–152
Mourente G, Megina C, Díaz-Salvago E (2001) Lipids in female northern bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus thynnus L.) during sexual maturation. Fish Physiol Biochem 24:351–363
Nakamura Y-N, Ando M, Seoka M, Kawasaki K-i, Tsukamasa Y (2007) Changes of proximate and fatty acid compositions of the dorsal and ventral ordinary muscles of the full-cycle cultured Pacific bluefin tuna Thunnus orientalis with the growth. Food Chem 103:234–241
Padula DJ, Daughtry BJ, Nowak BF (2008) Dioxins, PCBs, metals, metalloids, pesticides and antimicrobial residues in wild and farmed Australian southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii). Chemosphere 72:34–44
Parrish CC (1999) Determination of total lipids, lipids classes and fatty acids in aquatic samples. In: Wainman BC, Arts MT (eds) Lipids in freshwater ecosystems. Springer, New York, pp 4–20
Potier M, Sabatié R, Ménard F, Marsac F (2001) Preliminary results of tuna diet studies in the West Equatorial Indian Ocean. IOTC proceedings 2001-WPTT-03, pp 273–278
Rasmussen RS, Morrissey MT, Carroll S (2006) Effect of seasonality, location, and size on lipid content in North Pacific troll-caught albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga). J Aquat Food Prod Technol 15:73–86
Revill A, Young J, Lansdell M (2009) Stable isotopic evidence for trophic groupings and bio-regionalization of predators and their prey in oceanic waters off eastern Australia. Mar Biol 156:1241–1253
Saito H, Ishihara K, Murase T (1997) The fatty acid composition in tuna (bonito, Euthynnus pelamis) caught at three different localities from tropics to temperate. J Sci Food Agric 73:53–59
Sprague M, Dick JR, Medina A, Tocher DR, Bell JG, Mourente G (2012) Lipid and fatty acid composition, and persistent organic pollutant levels in tissues of migrating Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus, L.) broodstock. Environ Pollut 171:61–71
Stefansson G, Hultin HO (1994) On the solubility of cod muscle proteins in water. J Agric Food Chem 42:2656–2664
Stevens ED, Neill WH (1978) Body temperature relations of tunas, especially skipjack. In: Hoar WS, Randall DJ (eds) Fish physiology, vol VII. Academic, New York, pp 315–359
Takiguchi A (1989) Effect of NaCl on the oxidation and hydrolysis of lipids in salted sardine fillets during storage. Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi 55:1649–1654
Tambo T, Yamada N, Kitada N (1992) Change in myofibrillar protein of fish muscle caused by soaking in NaCl solution. Bull Jpn Soc Sci Fish 58:677–683
Tanabe S, Iwata H, Tatsukawa R (1994) Global contamination by persistent organochlorines and their ecotoxicological impact on marine mammals. Sci Total Environ 154:163–177
Torres JPM, Munschy C, Heas-Moisan K, Potier M, Ménard F, Bodin N (2009) Organohalogen compounds in yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) from the Western Indian Ocean. Organohalog Compd 71:1915–1920
Ueno D, Iwata H, Tanabe S, Ikeda K, Koyama J, Yamada H (2002) Specific accumulation of persistent organochlorines in bluefin tuna collected from Japanese coastal waters. Mar Pollut Bull 45:254–261
Ueno D, Takahashi S, Tanaka H, Subramanian AN, Fillmann G, Nakata H, Lam PKS, Zheng J, Muchtar M, Prudente M, Chung KH, Tanabe S (2003) Global pollution monitoring of PCBs and organochlorine pesticides using skipjack tuna as a bioindicator. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 45:378–389
Vizzini S, Tramati C, Mazzola A (2010) Comparison of stable isotope composition and inorganic and organic contaminant levels in wild and farmed bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus, in the Mediterranean Sea. Chemosphere 78:1236–1243
Vlieg P, Murray T, Body DR (1993) Nutritional data on six oceanic pelagic fish species from New Zealand waters. J Food Compos Anal 6:45–54
Watanabe T, Murase T, Saito HLE (1995) Specificity of fatty acid composition of highly migratory fish. A comparison of docosahexaenoic acid content in total lipids extracted in various organs of bonito (Euthynnus pelamis). Comp Biochem Physiol Part B Biochem Mol Biol 111:691–695
Wheeler SC, Morrissey MT (2003) Quantification and distribution of lipid, moisture, and fatty acids of West Coast albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga). J Aquat Food Prod Technol 12:3–16
Zudaire I, Murua H, Grande M, Arsenault-Pernet E-J, Pernet F, Bodin N (2014) Accumulation and mobilization of lipids in relation with reproduction and fecundity in the yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), Western Indian Ocean. Fishery Research. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2013.12.010
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to ORTHONGEL, the crew of the Cap Sainte Marie, especially Christian Monfort, for providing valuable information on tuna freezing aboard purse seiners and supplying us with brine for the experiment. This work is a contribution of the Agence Nationale de la Recherche EMOTION project (ANR 11 JSV7 007 01).
Conflict of interest
None.
Compliance with Ethics Requirements
This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bodin, N., Lucas, V., Dewals, P. et al. Effect of brine immersion freezing on the determination of ecological tracers in fish. Eur Food Res Technol 238, 1057–1062 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-014-2210-3
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-014-2210-3