1Akita Research Institute for Food and Brewing, Akita 010-1623, 2Akita Prefectural Institute for Fisheries and Fisheries Management, Oga, Akita 010-0531, 3Seirei Women's Junior College, Akita 011-0937, 4Faculty of Bioresource Science, Akita Prefectural University, Akita 010-0195, Japan
Seasonal changes in lipid components in meat and gonads of Japanese sandfish Arctoscopus japonicus caught in Akita offshore were investigated. The moisture, crude lipid contents and fatty acid composition were analyzed. The crude lipid levels in meat were maximum in September, and were low in December. Significant differences of fatty acid composition of meat were not found. The gonad weight and crude lipid increased with sexual maturing, particularly in ovaries, but almoat no changes in crude lipid content and fatty acid composition of gonads were found. These results suggested that these changes were related to diet and sexual maturity. As foods, these results suggested that the meat in September and ovaries in December are delicious. Regarding food processing, the meat could be used as a material of enkanhin and surimi, and ovaries could be used as a material of fish egg products.