Carbon monoxide residues in vacuum-packed yellowfin tuna loins (Thunnus Albacares)

The use of carbon monoxide (CO) in fresh fish has generated considerable debate. Carbon monoxide is used to treat fresh fish in order to retain its fresh red appearance for a longer period. It reacts with the oxy-myoglobin to form a fairly stable cherry red carboxy-myoglobin complex that may mask spoilage, because the CO-complex can be stable beyond the microbiological shelf life of the meat. The presence of CO in tuna fish (Thunnus Albacares) has been investigated by means of optical spectroscopy. Formation of the CO adduct can be easily detected by the combined analysis of electronic absorption spectra in their normal and second derivative modes, monitoring the intense Soret band at 420 nm. Samples were judged as CO treated when their levels were higher than 200 ng/g. Only two positive samples out of 29 analyzed were detected. The high level of uncertainty (0.30) of the method requires the use of more specific and sensitive methods for confirmatory analysis.