Quality Comparison Study between Wild and Farmed Frozen Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Thunnus thynnus

Abstract

To improve tuna farming technology with a focus on its quality, the quality of wild frozen Atlantic tuna from the coast of Ireland was compared with that of farmed frozen fish from the Mediterranean Sea. The lipid content in the wild fish, which has been considered to influence the market value remarkably, was lower than that in the farmed fish. Moreover, inosine monophosphate content involved in umami taste and K value, a freshness indicator, showed no differences between the wild and farmed samples. Conversely, the composition of fatty acids and free amino acids, probably derived from the feeds, differed between wild and farmed fish, indicating that these differences affect their quality.