Food Component Characteristics of Skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) and Yellowfin Tuna (Thunnus albacares) Roes

For the effective utilization of tuna processing byproducts such as roes of skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) and yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacores) as a food resource, the roes of skipjack and yellowfin tuna were examined on food component characteristics and also compared to those of Alaska pollack (Theragra chalcogramma). The concentrations of heavy metal in both roe of the skipjack and yellowfin tuna were below the reported safety limits, therefore, these roes appeared to be safe as a raw material for food resource. The contents of crude protein were 21.4% in the skipjack tuna roe and 21.5% in the yellow fin tuna roe, which showed to be the major component in tuna roes. The prominent amino acids of total amino acids were aspartic acid, glutamic acid, leucine and lysine, and these amino acids were comprise to be 38.4-41.2% of total amino acid in both tuna roes. The total lipid content were 2.1 % in the skipjack tuna roe and 2.0% in the yellofin tuna roe. The major component of total lipid was found to be triglyceride in both tuna roes (skipjack tuna roe, 93.3%; yellow fin tuna roe, 92.0%), which was high in the compositions of 16:0, l8:1n-9, and 22:6n-3. The content of DHA in total lipid of the tuna roes (skipjack tuna roe, 29.9%; yellowfin tuna roe, 36.3%) were higher than that of Alaska pollack roe (18.1%). Based on the results of the proximate composition, mineral, amino acid and lipid characteristic, roes of skipjack tuna and yellowfin tuna showed potential as a raw material for food.