Suppression of fishy Odor by Cooking with Antioxidant

2006 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 17500539
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Eating habits, studies on eating habits
• Research Institution: Nara Women's University
• Principal Investigator: TAKAMURA Hitoshi Nara Women's University, Faculty of Human Life and Environment, Associate Professor (70202158)
• Project Period (FY): 2005 – 2006
• Keywords: fish / fishy odor / lipids / olfactometry / odor / antioxidants / carbonyl compounds / カルボニル化合物

Research Abstract

Fish is widely consumed not only in Japan but also all over the world as the source of animal protein. Furthermore, fish is also important as the source of polyunsaturated fatty acids. However, its characteristic odor (fishy odor) often makes fish less acceptable. Though fishy odor has been thought to come from amines such as trimethylamine, the author previously reported that main components of fishy odor are carbonyl compounds and alcohols which are derived from lipids. In this research, a cooking method with antioxidants to suppress the fishy odor was developed.
Some mugworts, which are used in Okinawa dishes for suppresion of meat odor, are used for cooking of sardines. Fishy odor components were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and GC-olfactometry in order to clarify the structures, amounts, and formation mechanism of fish odor components.
As the result, mugworts suppressed the formation of carbonyl compounds and alcohols which contribute fishy odor. In addition, mirin, a Japanese traditional seasoning, also suppress the fishy odor. Antioxidants in mugworts and mirin are thought to inhibit the lipid oxidation in sardine.