LUCRRI TIINIFICE MEDICIN VETERINAR VOL.

XLIII (2), 2010 TIMIOARA

STUDIES REGARDING THE MEAT QUALITY OF THE SPECIE

CYPRINUS CARPIO
1

ADELA MARCU , ILEANA NICHITA , MARIA NICULA , ADRIAN MARCU ,

3
BARTOLOMEU KELCIOV
1

Faculty of Animal Sciences and Biotechnologies, 300645, Calea Aradului No.

119, Timisoara, Romania
2
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Timisoara, Romania
3
S.C.LuckyVet, Timisoara, Romania
E-mail:adelamarcu64@yahoo.com
Summary

The chemical composition of the meat is one of the most important

characteristics. For the fish meat quality there are only few specific data comparatively
with those that exist about animal meat. The results obtained from a study done on the
meat quality of the fish specie Cyprinus carpio (carp) with a body weight of around 785
2010g are presented in this paper. The obtained results emphasized a great quality of the
Cyprinus carpio meat. The meat proteins content had a big value and it was indirectly
proportional to the body weight. The meat hydration was higher in fishes with low body
weight and indirectly proportional to the fat content. Taking in consideration the fat content
of this meat, it can be concluded that the carp could be included in the half fat fish
category. The meat caloricity calculated is growing proportionally to the body weight, being
influenced by the fat content. The researches emphasized also the fact that meat
production indices (slaughter efficiency) have an evolution in direct correspondence with
body weight and age.
Key words: caloric value, chemical composition, Cyprinus carpio, slaughter
efficiency

In human alimentation fish represent an important proportion due to its

meat quality. The fish meat has excellent sensitive qualities and a high nutritive
value due to its big content in proteins and lipids with superior biological value
and a high digestibility degree.
In the last years all over the world even in Romania, the fish meat gained
a very important place among the foods with animal origin due to its nutritive and
taste qualities and the convenient price. Meat production with aquaculture origins
had a quite big fluctuation in Romania in the last period during to the increase of
import and the decline of internal production (3). In the markets from our country
there are a big number of imported fish species without information regarding its
quality.
This reason was considered great opportunity to do some research
regarding the meat quality of the fish specie Cyprinus carpio (carp). The Cyprinus
carpio is Eurasia freshwater specie of fish. It was introduced in numerous
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countries from the world being considered an important source of food for
humans (2).
Materials and methods
The studied samples were represented by fish from the Cyprinus carpio
specie that were bought from various markets.
The study was done on 15 fishes with the body weight of between 7852010 grams.
The fillet muscles from each fish were used to determine, the chemical
composition.
The major, chemical components that were determined from the meat of
this fish specie: the total proteins, the total lipids, the ash and the water content.
The chemical components of the Cyprinus carpio meat was determinated using
the classical laboratory methods presented in the specific literature (8,10).
The slaughter efficiency that was calculates and expressed in percentage
from each fish and presented in tabular forms.
Because in our country there are not data in the specific literature
regarding the quality meat of this specie, the caloric value was calculated.
For the caloric value of this kind of meat the total protein and total lipid
content was multiplied with the corresponding coefficients and the values were
presented in calories (7).
The proteins and lipids from the meat are liberated in oxidation reactions
form in the human body the following quantities of calories:
1 gram of protein 4.1 calories
1 gram lipids - 9.3 calories
The obtained results were statistically calculated and presented in
percentage in tabular forms.
Results and discussions
The results obtained from the study of the chemical composition of the carp
meat are presented in table 1.
The analysis of the chemical composition of each of the 15 Cyprinus carpio
examined concluded that the obtained results were situated in the normal value
for fish meat and the recorded differences were dependent on body weight.
From the data presented in table 1 it results that the dry matter contents of
the Cyprinus carpio meat had an average value of around 23.94 0.17 and the
average value of the water content was 76.06 0.17. From among the
components of the dry matter, the total of proteins has the greatest value
(x=17.790.08), followed by the total of lipids (x=5.070.24), and the ash
(x=1.070.01), in comparison with other data presented in specific literature
(1,4,5,6,9,11,12).
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Table 1
The chemical composition of the carp (Cyprinus carpio) meat depending on
the body weight
Water

Dry matter

785
850
995
1150
1225
1370
1480
1550
1620
1700
1850
1920
1950
1985
2010

(%)
77.40
77.30
76.68
76.60
76.38
76.35
76.25
76.20
75.98
75.89
75.80
75.55
75.50
74.80
74.28

(%)
22.60
22.70
23.32
23.40
23.62
23.65
23.75
23.80
24.02
24.11
24.20
24.45
24.50
25.20
25.72

x
Sx
s
V%

76.06
0.17
0.83
1.09

23.94
0.17
0.83
3.47

Body weight
(g)

Total proteins
(%)

Ash

18.29
18.25
18.19
18.12
18.07
17.98
17.90
17.88
17.75
17.66
17.55
17.35
17.40
17.20
17.30

Total
lipids
(%)
3.29
3.45
4.08
4.24
4.49
4.62
4.80
4.84
5.17
5.32
5.56
6.02
5.99
6.87
7.30

(%)
1.02
1.00
1.05
1.04
1.06
1.05
1.05
1.08
1.10
1.13
1.09
1.08
1.11
1.13
1.12

17.79
0.08
0.37
2.06

5.07
0.24
1.15
22.62

1.07
0.01
0.04
3.70

body w eight
2010

74,28

7,3

1985

74,8

1950

75,5

6,87
5,99

1920

75,55

6,02

1850

75,8

1700

75,89

5,56
5,32

1620

75,98

1550

76,2

1370

76,35

1225

76,38

1150

76,6
76,68

850

77,3

w ater

4,62
4,49

total lipids

4,24
4,08
4,45

77,4

785

10

20

30

40

3,29
50

60

70

80

995

5,17
4,84

Fig. 1. Water and total lipids content of carp (Cyprinus carpio) meat depending on
the body weight
The chemical composition of fish meat is very different dependent on
specie, the breeding conditions, and the biological and physiological aspects. For
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the fishes obtained in aquaculture these chemical composition differences are

lower because in these systems the breeding factors are controlled. The chemical
composition values of fish with body weight between around 785 and 1550 grams
presented in table 1 had big differences because the hydration of the meat is
bigger. The dry matter is growing proportional to the body weight from 22.60% to
25.72%, being influenced by the crowding of the lipid content in the fish.
Between the fish meat lipid content and the proportion of water from the
tissues there is a strong correlation and the rapport between these indicators
depends on the age and the breeding state of the fish (fig. 1).
From the analysis of the lipid values of Cyprinus carpio meat it was
concluded that it could be included in the fish categories with medium lipid
content (48%) (7,9,11).
The proteins, the most important element of the meat had big values
x=17.790.08 and presented few variations depending on the body weight of the
examined fish.
The results obtained from the study of the slaughter efficiency of the carp
are presented in fig. 2.
The calculated of the slaughter efficiency of each of the 15 Cyprinus carpio
examined concluded that the obtained results were situated in approach the
value for this species mentioned in literature (1).
body w eight
60,28

2010
1985

59,8

1950

58,2

1920

57,05

1850

55,89

1700

55,28

1620

54,85

1550

53,9

1480

53,25

1370

52,9

1225

52,65

1150

52,32

995

51,85

850

51,12

785

10

20

30

40

50
60
slaughter efficiency

50,68

Fig. 2. The slaughter efficiency of the carp (Cyprinus carpio) depending on the
body weight

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The values of the slaughter efficiency vary between 50.68 and 60.28%,
depending on fish body weight. The body components which significant influence
the slaughter efficiency are intern organs, head and scales. Higher values
occurred in the case of the exemplars which 785 g and lower values in the case
of the exemplars which 2010 g.
The calculated caloric value of the Cyprinus carpio meat examined is
presented in fig. 3.
body w eight
70,93

1985

70,52

67,89
63,891

1950

71,34

1920

71,135

1850

71,955

1700

72,406

49,476

1620

72,775

48,081

1550

73,308

1480

73,39

44,64

1370

73,718

42,966

1225

74,087

41,757

1150

74,292

39,432

995

74,579

37,944

850

74,825

785

74,989

20

40

55,707
55,986
51,708

45,012

prote ines
lipide s

41,385
30,597

60

80

100

120

140

calories

2010

Fig. 3. The caloric value of the carp (Cyprinus carpio) meat depending on the
body weight
The recorded differences are proportional to the body weight. These
differences are due to the chemical composition. In the fish with a high body
weight the total of lipids from the meat is increasing and the water content is
decreasing. It must be emphasized that by burning one gram lipids results 9.3
calories and for one gram of proteins the calories quantities are half lower (4.1
calories from one gram protein).
Conclusions
The chemical analysis of the Cyprinus carpio meat emphasizes the big
content of water and protein and a medium content of fat.
The total of lipids is growing proportionally to body weight and this
influences positively the caloric value of the meat
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LUCRRI TIINIFICE MEDICIN VETERINAR VOL. XLIII (2), 2010, TIMIOARA

The water content of the Cyprinus carpio meat is in indirect correlation with
the body weigh and in direct correlation with the lipid content.
The value of the slaughter efficiency vary and depending on fish body
weight.
Overall, our results on the biochemical composition of carp meat and
slaughter efficiency approach the results from the literature (1,4,5,6,9,11,12).
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