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Short communication
Seasonal variation in fat content of anchovy (Engraulis
encrasicolus)
Nalan Göko` glu*
1
, Özkan Özden
2
, Nuray Erkan
2
, Taçnur Baygar
2
& Sühendan Metin
2
*1 University of Mediterranean, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Food Engineering, Antalya, Turkey
2 Istanbul University, Fisheries Faculty, Istanbul, Turkey
(Received 8 January 1999; Accepted in revised form 6 May 1999)
Keywords Anchovy, fat content, seasonal variation.
Introduction
Anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) is a pelagic fish
belonging to the Engraulidae family. It lives in
areas from inshore to offshore, and is caught in
depths of 100–180 m in the Mediterranean Sea
and 60–70 m in the Black Sea. The species feeds
mainly in summer months when water tempera-
ture is 17–18 °C. In general, it migrates to coastal
regions when the water temperature increases to
reproduce and feed until October and November.
Anchovy is the fish most frequently consumed in
Turkey. Total landings were 290 680 t in 1996
and accounted for more than 50% of total fish
production of 521 656 t of Turkey in that year
(FAO, 1998). A significant portion (60%) of this
harvest is utilized for human consumption and
the remainder is processed into by-products
(Acara et al., 1995). The oil content of the flesh
of pelagic fish species varies in a regular annual
cycle. The range may be very large from 1% to
more than 25% wet weight (Sikorski et al., 1989;
Burt & Hardy, 1992). The purpose of this paper
was to investigate the seasonal variation of the fat
content of anchovy caught in the Marmara Sea
off Turkey.
Materials and methods
Raw material
Samples of anchovy from the Marmara Sea were
obtained through a local fish market in Ïstanbul
twice each month from January to April and
from September to December 1996. Fishing for
anchovy from 15th of April 1996 to 1st
September 1996 was prohibited in Turkey and
samples could not be collected during that season.
Approximately 1 kg fish, with an average length
of 11 cm, were randomly selected for each sam-
pling. The fish were gutted, beheaded, filleted and
immediately analyzed.
Analyses
The fillets were homogenized using a blender and
assays were carried out triplicate on samples of
the homogenates. Moisture content was deter-
mined by drying a sample in an oven at 105 °C to
a constant weight (AOAC, 1990). Fat content
was determined by method 948.15 described in
AOAC (1990). The results are given as means of
triplicate. Data were analyzed by analysis of vari-
ance. Significance of differences between means
were determined by Least Significant Difference.
A significance level of 0.05 was chosen.
Results and discussion
Table 1 and 2 show the results of fat and mois-
International Journal of Food Science and Technology 1999, 34, 401–402
© 1999 Blackwell Science Ltd
401