Fundamentals of food technology study manual

Mass composition of fish 
The mass composition of fish means the ratio of the mass of individual parts 
of its body and organs to the mass of the whole fish, expressed as a percentage. 
Individual organs and body parts of fish differ according to their chemical 
composition and structure. In order to fully and rationally use all parts of the fish 
body that are not equivalent in terms of chemical composition and structure, it is 
necessary to know the mass composition of the fish. To describe a fish as a food 
raw material, it is enough to know the composition of the edible parts of its body. 
However, in order to organize reasonable complex processing of fish, it is 
necessary to know its mass composition, which indicates the number of body parts 
and organs that can be important as raw materials for obtaining food, feed and 
other products. When determining the mass composition of fish, they usually 
remove the scales from the body, then cut off the fins, remove the head and cut the 
abdomen, remove the intestines, if necessary, separate organs (gonads, liver, swim 
bladder ) separates; after that, the fillet is cut from the carcass, separating the meat 
from the bones as carefully as possible. The skin is removed from the fillet and the 
weight of each separated part of the body is determined. Determining the mass 
composition of small fish is often limited to separating the head, tail and intestines. 
The resulting carcass is taken as the edible part of the fish, which contains the meat 
along with the bones and skin. For example, the mass content of pollock: head - 
21%, meat with skin - 50, bones - 8, wings - 3, intestines - 17%. The skin is 
removed from the fillet and the weight of each separated part of the body is 

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determined. Determining the mass composition of small fish is often limited to 
separating the head, tail and intestines. The resulting carcass is taken as the edible