Where is the puffer fish poisonous

Although puffer fish tastes very delicious, you should be aware that many parts of this fish are poisonous. If you eat the poisonous parts, you may suffer from food poisoning. More serious cases may directly endanger their lives. Therefore, you cannot take it lightly. You must remove the liver and gonads of the puffer fish before eating.

The location of tetrodotoxin and seasonal changes The location of tetrodotoxin is in the fish's internal organs. It includes: gonads, liver, stomach and other parts. The amount of toxins they contain varies depending on the breeding environment and seasons. According to the examples of Yangtze River pufferfish and artificially farmed pufferfish, the toxicity of each organ is compared as follows: ovary → spleen → liver → blood tendons → eyes → gill rakers → skin → testes → muscles. The toxicity of organs of farmed pufferfish (over 2 years old) is consistent with that of wild pufferfish, but the toxin content is lower.

Gonads

The ovaries and testes. The ovaries are highly toxic and are one of the most toxic parts of the pufferfish. The testes are slightly or non-toxic; the ovaries and testes are oblong and located in the posterior abdominal cavity, near the anus. During the reproductive period, the two are easy to distinguish, with the testicles being milky white and the ovaries being light yellow. In cross-section, the testicles appear white and milky, while the ovaries appear granular. However, after autumn, because the reproductive period has passed, both the ovaries and testicles become atrophied, making it more difficult to distinguish between the two.

liver

It is a large, longitudinal organ located on the right side of the abdominal cavity. It is connected to the enlarged stomach at the top and its lower tip reaches near the anus. It is gray-brown in color and has a green gallbladder inside. The liver is the highly poisonous part of pufferfish. When eating pufferfish, special attention should be paid to make sure it is removed cleanly before eating. Artificially farmed ones can be eaten after being fried in oil.

Skin and blood

The amount of toxin contained in the skin varies depending on the species of pufferfish, and the toxin contained in the skin of pufferfish is very low or non-toxic. The blood, especially the two so-called spinal clots, or spleen clots, are highly toxic.

The muscles can be considered non-toxic, so as long as you dig out the puffer fish's internal organs, peel it, and wash it clean, it will not be poisonous. However, it is a long time after the pufferfish dies, and the toxins in its internal organs are dissolved in the body fluids. Over time, they can seep into the muscles, so we must be on guard. Especially when making fish fillets (sashimi), it is safer to soak them in 2% to 5% alkaline solution.

The ovaries and liver of pufferfish are the second most toxic organs in the fish's internal organs. The amount of toxin they contain often varies with the seasons. The ovaries develop from February to May each year and are more toxic. After June to July, the spawning period is over, the ovaries atrophy, and the toxicity is also weakened. As with the liver and ovaries, toxicity is generally higher in spring. In addition, the toxicity content varies among different species, and even within the same species, the toxicity content sometimes varies. Generally, females are more toxic than males.