Evaluation of safety and quality indices of some shark species caught from Mediterranean Sea

This study was performed to evaluate the safety and quality criteria of six raw sharks; Centrophorus granulosus, Carcharhinus plumbeus, Heptanchias perio, Mustelus mosis, Mustelus mustelus, and Squalus blainvillei samples caught from the Mediterranean Sea at Al-Anfoushi, Alexandria, Egypt during September 2021- Augustus, 2023. Some microbial and heavy metals pollutants as well as the nutritive value of sharks' samples were determined. The results obtained showed that the aerobic plate count (APC), coliform group and fungus count (FC) of raw samples recorded 7.90 - 9.12, 77.00 - 95.67, and 1.33 - 1.82×103 cfug-1, respectively. Other pollutants, levels of Pb, Cd, Hg and Me-Hg were within than the international maximum permissible limits (MPLs). The chemical composition of six shark species ranged of 74.62-75.52% moisture, 22.58-23.60 % crude protein, 0.50-0.64% fat, and 1.21-1.59% ash content. In addition, values of TVB and TMA content were increased in raw samples; due to shark's meat contains some non-nitrogenous compounds. The average of total essential amino acids (EAAs) was higher (57.41 - 58.61) than non- essential amino acids (NEAAs) content (39.70 - 42.19). in conclusion, this study based on results obtained recommends that raw sharks have high safety and quality as well as they one of solutions to overcome of fish gap in Egypt as a similar in other countries after their treatment to reduce the urea content that limit its use as food for human consumption.