The effects of fishing season on the basic chemical composition and chemical and sensory quality of wild sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax Linne, 1758) at frozen (-18˚C) storage

THE EFFECTS OF FISHING SEASON ON THE BASICCHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND CHEMICAL AND SENSORY QUALITYOF WILD SEA BASS (Dicentrarchus labrax Linne, 1758) ATFROZEN (-18 oC) STORAGEGülsün BEKLEV KAbstract: Seasonal changes in proximate composition of wild sea bass (Dicentrarchus labraxLinne, 1758) and the effects of fishing seasons on the chemical and sensory quality of frozen (-18 oC) wild sea bass were investigated. It was found that the protein content of sea bass fillets inwinter, spring, summer and autumn seasons were 19.75%, 21.38%, 21.79% and 18.74%,respectively and lipid content were 1.22%, 6.05%, 5.85% and 2.18%, respectively. The majorfatty acids of sea bass fillets in all groups were palmitic acid, oleic acid, eicosapentaenoic acidand docosahexaenoic acid. The DHA content was significantly (p<0.05) higher in spring(13.98%) than summer (12.69%), winter (7.45%) and autumn (4.86%). The EPA content inspring (6.70%) and summer (6.63%) was significantly (p<0.05) higher than winter (5.44%) andautumn (3.84%). It was found that the most abundant amino acids of sea bass fillets wereaspartic acid, glutamic acid, lysine and leucine. The ratio of essential and non essential aminoacids was 0.75 in winter, 0.76 in autumn and 0.77 in spring and summer.At the end of the frozen storage periods, chemical and sensory analyses of sea bassfillets showed that sea bass captured in autumn and winter can be kept it?s good quality duringnine months of frozen (-18 oC) storage. All of the estimated chemical quality parameters (pH,Total Volatile Basic Nitrogen, mg/100g; Thiobarbituric values, mg malondialdehyde/100g;Formaldehyde, mg/kg and myofibriller protein, g/100g) were over the acceptability limits forconsumers and the results of sensory analyses (color, odor, flavor, texture and generalacceptability) supported these chemical results.Key words: Dicentrarchus labrax, Seasonal changes, Frozen storage, Fatty acids,Amino acids.