Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências (2009) 81(2): 165-172 (Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences) ISSN 0001-3765 www.scielo.br/aabc Bromophenol concentrations in fish from Salvador, BA, Brazil ALINE S. OLIVEIRA 3 , VILMA M. SILVA 1 , MÁRCIA C.C. VELOSO 2 , GISLAINE V. SANTOS 3 and JAILSON B. DE ANDRADE 1 1 Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal da Bahia, UFBA, Rua Barão de Geremoabo s/n Campus Universitário de Ondina, 40170-290 Salvador, BA, Brasil 2 Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica da Bahia, CEFET-BA, Rua Emídio dos Santos s/n Barbalho, 40625-650 Salvador, BA, Brasil 3 Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, UFBA, Rua Barão de Geremoabo s/n Campus Universitário de Ondina, 40170-290 Salvador, BA, Brasil Manuscript received on July 14, 2008; accepted for publication on October 7, 2008; contributed by JAILSON B. DE ANDRADE ∗ ABSTRACT The main objective of this work is to evaluate the occurrence of bromophenols (2-bromophenol, 4-bromophenol, 2,4- dibromophenol, 2,6-dibromophenol and 2,4,6-tribromophenol), in the flesh and guts in two species of the Lutjanidae Family: Lutjanus synagris and Ocyurus chrysurus. The bromophenols were extracted by steam distillation with pentane- ether (7:3 v/v), identified by reverse phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC-UV), and quantified by the external-standard method. Total bromophenol concentrations were similar in the muscle of both species, ranging from 36 ng g –1 to 349 ng g –1 . The total bromophenol concentrations in stomach (ranging from 12 ng g –1 to 586 ng g –1 ) were slightly higher than in muscle. The presence of bromophenol in the muscles of the species under study may occur as a result of their diet. The results of this work are therefore expected to contribute toward a better understanding of the path of bromophenol absorption from the fish’s stomach to the rest of its body. Key words: bromophenols, flavor, marine fishes, Lutjanus , Ocyurus . INTRODUCTION Flavor, or the consumer’s perception thereof, is an im- portant attribute of the quality of marine fishes and other seafoods (Lindsay 1990, Stansby 1962), and is the first and principal discriminative factor in his evaluation, ac- ceptance, rejection or preference for the product (Boyle et al. 1992a). This fact has led to extensive research in several areas, including agriculture and the food and beverage industry, aimed at putting on the market prod- ucts of excellent nutritional quality and especially of pleasant flavor (Lindsay 1990). The success of aquaculture products has been ham- pered by problems relating to the quality of their flavor, *Member Academia Brasileira de Ciências Correspondence to: Jailson B. de Andrade E-mail: jailsong@ufba.br since many consumers can clearly distinguish the differ- ence between the flavor of cultivated and wild harvest seafoods (Boyle et al. 1992a). Knowledge of the factors and chemical substances that determine flavor can con- tribute significantly to the improvement and expansion of aquaculture and to the preservation, storage, control and improved quality of seafoods. However, there is still a paucity of information about the specific substances that give fishes and other seafoods their widely diverse flavors and other subtle differences. In the last few decades, a group of organic compounds called simple bromophenols has been con- sidered the main component of the flavor of several seafoods (Boyle et al. 1992b, 1993, Silva et al. 2007, Whitfield et al. 1992a, Whitfield 1988). These com- pounds, including 2-bromophenol (2-BP), 4-bromo- An Acad Bras Cienc (2009) 81 (2)