A Preliminary Study on the Meat Yield, Nutritional Composition, Lipid Quality Indices, and Mineral and Heavy Metal Contents of Annular Seabream ($Diplodus$ $annularis$ Linnaeus, 1758) Caught in the Black Sea

In this study, the meat yield, nutritional composition (protein, fat, moisture, ash, carbohydrate), amino acid content, fatty acid composition, and mineral and heavy metal contents of annular seabream ($Diplodus$ $annularis$) were investigated. Additionally, the lipid quality indices (LQI) of annular sea bream were examined. The meat yield of annular seabream was found to be 29.69%. Protein, fat, moisture, ash and carbohydrate values were 17.78 g/100g, 2.28 g/100g, 76.96 g/100g, 1.80 g/100g and 1.19 g/100g, respectively. The total amount of essential amino acids and non-essential amino acids were determined as 147.45 mg/g and 462.74 mg/g, respectively. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) were the predominant fatty acids (37.74%), followed by saturated fatty acids (SFAs) (34.85%) and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) (27.36%). Atherogenicity Index (AI), Thrombogenicity Index (TI) and Polyene Index (PI) from LQIs were calculated as 0.47, 0.35 and 0.91, respectively. The H/H (Hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic) ratio of annular seabream was 2.83 and FLQ (Fish Lipid Quality) was 14.48. The first three of the most abundant minerals in annular sea bream were potassium (K), phosphorus (P) and sodium (Na). The heavy metals Hg, Pb and Cd were found within the allowed limit values. As a result, the annular seabream meat was found to have low fat values and high protein content, and to contain essential amino acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids and important minerals. The current study is the first research conducted on the nutritional composition of annular sea bream in the Black Sea.