Elemental profile of the edible portion from several species of whitefish caught off the Northern Adriatic coast.

Seventeen whitefish species caught in the North Adriatic sea were sampled from the wholesale fish markets of Cesenatico and Rimini from October 2006 to May 2007 to gain a better knowledge of their potential as a source of macro- and micro-elements, both at the raw and cooked state. Flathead grey mullet (Mugil cephalus, 13 batches, 13 specimens on the whole), annular seabream (Diplodus annularis, 3, 19), and conger eel (Conger conger, 8, 8) were destined to pan frying (PF). Striped mullet (Mullus barbatus, 12, 166), picarel (Spicara smaris, 2, 17), bogue (Boops boops, 7, 47), yellow gurnard (Trigla lucerna, 12, 60), largescaled scorpionfish (Scorpaena scrofa, 5, 52), Dover sole (Solea solea, 12, 77), stargazer (Uranoscopus scaber, 4, 20), and greater weever (Trachinus draco, 5, 50) were destined to oven baking in a partially covered baking tin (OB). Red bandfish (Cepola rubescens, 2, 35), common Pandora (Pagellus erythrinus, 5, 50), rock goby (Gobius paganellus, 6, 120), poor cod (Gadus minutus capelanus, 9, 54), blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou, 12, 114), and European hake (Merluccius merluccius, 14, 85) were intended for cooking in parchment (CP). The content of ten macro- and micro-elements were determined in raw and cooked flesh by ICP-AES. Since each cooked sample had its own proper raw reference, true retention coefficients could be computed for each element. At the raw state and collapsing the effect of the catching season, the whitefish species examined here proved to be well endowed in potassium (especially bogue, European hake, and blue whiting) and selenium (especially conger eel), while being quite poor sources of iron and zinc. Upon cooking, each element underwent an increase in concentration. In terms of true nutrient retention, CP proved to be the most conservative out of the three implemented cooking methods, while PF was the least one.