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Biochemical composition of eggsin relation to egg quality in the Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica

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Abstract

This paper presents the relationship between egg quality and egg biochemical composition of cultured and wild Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica. Eggs were obtained by artificialinduction of maturation. Fertilization and hatching rates were used as characteristics of egg quality. Egg quality characteristics showed large variation; fertilization rate, 0–96; hatching rate, 0–84%. The biochemical composition also showed a large variation. There was no marked relationship between egg quality and fatty acid contents of eggs, except for n-6 highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA). Both the fertilization and hatching ratesincreased proportionally withincreases of the α-tocopherol g(α-Toc) contentin eggs. A more significant correlation was found between the amount of α-Toc relative to the amount of HUFA and egg quality. The results of this study show that the egg quality of Japanese eel is affected by the α–Toc level, andin particular, the ratio of α-Toc to HUFAin the eggs.

Abbreviations: BHT – butylhydroxytoluene; EFA – essential fatty acids; FAME – fatty acid methyl esters; HPLC – high performance liquid chromatography; HUFA – highly unsaturated fatty acids; NADH – nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide; NADPH - nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate; ROS – reactive oxygen species; α-Toc –α-tocopherol.

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Author notes

  1. H. Ohta

    Present address: Department of Fisheries, School of Agriculture, Kinki University, Nara, 631-8505, Japan

  2. H. Kagawa

    Present address: Department of Biological Production and Environmental Science, School of Agriculture, Miyazaki University, Miyazaki, 889-2192, Japan

  3. N. Suzuki

    Present address: Department of Fisheries, School of Marine Science and Technology, Tokai University, Shizuoka, 424-8610, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Inland Station, National Researchinstitute of Aquaculture, Fisheries Research Agency, Tamaki, Mie, 514-0423, Japan

    H. Furuita, N. Suzuki & T. Yamamoto

  2. National Researchinstitute of Aquaculture, Fisheries Research Agency, Nansei, Mie, 516-0193, Japan

    H. Furuita, H. Ohta, T. Unuma, H. Tanaka & H. Kagawa

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Furuita, H., Ohta, H., Unuma, T. et al. Biochemical composition of eggsin relation to egg quality in the Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica . Fish Physiology and Biochemistry 29, 37–46 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:FISH.0000035897.58924.9d

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