Rapid estimation of lipid content of immature chum salmon in the ocean with a handheld microwave meter (Fish Fat Meter)

Title	Rapid estimation of lipid content of immature chum salmon in the ocean with a handheld microwave meter
Written by	Toshiki Kaga, Shunpei Sato, Toru Nagasawa, Masa-aki Fukuwaka, Tetsuichi Nomura, Shigehiko Urawa
From	National Salmon Resources Center, Japan Hokkaido National Fisheries Research Institute, Japan National Research Institute of Aquaculture, Japan North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission, Canada
Published	October 2009
Fish Species	immature chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta)
Key Words	chum salmon, microwave meter, total lipid content, rapid estimation

What the research is about

We evaluated a handheld microwave meter (Fish Fat Meter) as an effective tool for the rapid estimation of the total lipid content in the muscle of immature chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta).

Research conclusion

Our results suggest that microwave meter (Fish Fat Meter) can be used as an effective tool for the rapid estimation of total lipid contents in chum salmon. Microwave meter can estimate the water content of tissue accurately.

Also, the results demonstrate that the strong relationship between the total lipid content of half body fillet and microwave meter (Fish Fat Meter) values. Unlike chemical analysis, the microwave meter (Fish Fat Meter) enables us to assess the total lipid content rapidly. It requires approximately 30 second per one fish for measuring at three positions. The microwave meter (Fish Fat Meter) can enable us to collect more number of data and increased data will permit increased precision in physiological studies.