PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES. 



143 



NUTRITIVE QUALITIES OF SALMON. 



More and more attention is being paid by the consuming public 

 to the nutritive qualities of the food products offered them, and this 

 is especially true as regards fishery products. 



The proper functions of food are two-fold, first, to furnish protein 

 for building and repairing the body, and second, to supply energy 

 for heat and muscular work. Foods which supply an abundance of 

 both at a reasonable price are of the greatest importance from an 

 economical standpoint. 



ANALYSES OF CANNED AND FRESH PACIFIC SALMON. 



Despite the great prominence of tlie salmon industry, but little 

 time has been devoted to it by the chemist. 



Prof. W. O. Atwater was the first American investigator to devote 

 any portion of hi^-' energies to the analysis of Pacific salmon. In 

 "Principles of Nutrition and Nutritive Value of Food" (Farmers 

 Bulletin No. 142, United States Department of Agriculture, 1901), 

 he gives the following analysis of canned Pacific coast salmon : 



Water, 63.5 per cent; protein, 21.8 per cent; fat, 12.1 per cent; asli, 2.6 per cent; 

 fuel value per pound, 915 calories. « 



C. F. Lang\\'Orthy. in "Fish as Food" (Farmers Bulletin No. 85, 

 United ^States Department of Agriculture, 1898), gives the following 

 analyses of fresh and canned Pacific coast salmon: 



Fresh salmon, California (sections): Refuse (bone, skin, etc.), 5.2 per cent; water, 

 60.3 per cent; protein, 16.5 i)er cent; fat, 17 percent; mineral matter, 1 percent; 

 total nutrients, 31.5 per cent; fuel value per j)ound, 1,025 calories. 



Canned salmon: Refuse (bone, skin, etc.), 3.9 per cent; salt, ] per cent; water, 

 59.3 per cent; protein, 19.3 per cent; fat, 15.3 percent; mineral, 1.2 percent; total 

 nutrients, 35.8 per cent; fuel value per pound, 1,005 calories. 



Dr. Ilarvey W. Wiley gives the following as the composition of a 

 Pacific coast salmon (species not given):'' 



Fresh— Water, 63.61 per cent; protein, 17.46 per cent; lat, 17.87 per cent; ash, 1.06 

 per cent. Dry — Protein, 52.31 per cent; fat, 49.05 per cent; ash, 2.92 per cent. 



On piigo 137 of the same work Dr. Wiley gives the following as 

 the mean of three samples of Pacific coast canned salmon: 



Composition of canned salmon. — Mean of three samples. Water-free substance: 

 Protein, 53.52 per cent; fat, 40.52 per cent; ash, 6.24 per cent. 



Prof. Knisely,'' of the Oregon State Agricultural College at Cor- 

 vallis, Oreg., analyzed canned salmon packed at the Funter Bay 

 (Alaska) cannery of the Thlinket Packmg Co., with the following 

 results: 



o The unit used to show tho fuel value is the "calorie," which i.s the amount of heat required to raise the 

 temperature of ahoiif 1 pound of water 4° K. 

 » Voods and their Adulteration, etc., p. 135. Hy Harvey W. Wiley. S', Thiladelphia 1907 

 t Pacific FUherman, Vol. VI, No. 1, January, 1908, p. 21. 



