Influence of traditional wooden barrel fermentation on fish: Comparative study on nutritional quality of muscles of fresh and stinky mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi)

The present work examined the nutritional quality of stinky mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi), a Chinese fish product (chòu guì yú), by assessing its nutrients, amino acids, minerals, and fatty acids in comparison with those of fresh mandarin fish (raw material). Compared with the fresh fish, stinky mandarin fish muscle moisture content decreased significantly (p < 0.05) after salting. A total of 17 amino acids were detected in the stinky mandarin fish muscle, accounting for 15.56% of the total wet weight, with essential amino acid content accounting for 40.00% of total amino acids. The amino acid and free amino acid contents increased significantly (p < 0.05), from 5.90 to 6.12%, and from 33.33 to 468.08 mg/100 g, respectively. Although the fatty acid quality decreased sharply, the essential fatty acid content was relatively high. Furthermore, stinky mandarin fish was rich in minerals, with calcium and zinc contents of 52.48 and 1.21 mg/100 g, respectively. Therefore, stinky mandarin fish is highly edible due to its delicious taste and nutritional value. These findings would provide a basis for improving Chinese mandarin fish’s industrial processing and nutritional quality.