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The venerid clam Chamelea gallina is a popular and economic foodstuff around the Mediterranean countries especially in Italy, Spain, and France. The aim of this study is to evaluate the nutritional quality of striped venus of Southern Marmara. Samples were harvested seasonally at five stations and analyzed to determine meat yield, proximate, and elemental composition. According to the results, meat yield ranged from 20.24% to 29.94%. Means of water, protein, lipid, and ash content were 67%, 10.12%, 2.57%, and 1.66%, respectively. The mean concentrations (mg/kg wet weight) of elements in tissues are as follows: B: 2.37-4.24; Cr: 0-0.76; Co: 0-0.43; Cu: 0.71-5.30; Mn: 0.30-5.94; Zn: 13.08-77.76; Ni: 0-1.22; Fe: 2.46-114.22; Al: 1.23-75.49; Pb: 0.18-3.24; Ba: 0.66-15.97; Cd: 0.04-0.69. Among the reported metal levels, only Pb and Zn in two stations exceeded the maximum critical concentrations enforced by Turkish legislation and European Commission. Therefore, we report that striped venus from Southern Marmara Sea, in general, are safe for human consumption; nonetheless, Pb and Zn levels should be closely monitored in the future.

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This study aimed to examine the content of biogenic amines (BAs) throughout the manufacture of lakerda. The effect of different ripening temperatures (+4, 15 and 20C) on BAs formations during producing of lakerda, as well as the relationship between productions of BAs and chemical properties (pH, salt content, aw and WPS) were also studied. Tyramine, spermine and phenylethylamine were the major BAs in fresh and all stages of production, respectively. During ripening, all BAs, except for spermine, decreased significantly (P < 0.05) in all temperature conditions. Surprisingly, the use of elevated temperatures (15 and 20C) for ripening significantly (P < 0.05) decreased the amines contents. In the final products, total BAs ranged from 63.93 mg/kg in the sample ripened at 15C to 68.79 mg/kg in the sample ripened at 20C. Basic chemical parameters were significantly correlated with BAs. Traditionally production of lakerda is suitable from the toxicological point of view. Practical Applications Lakerda, traditional salted fish product, are highly regarded among consumers in Mediterranean region due to the characteristic flavors and storage stability. It has been practiced for over 600 years. Nowadays, it has been still produced in traditional way according to the original recipe in Turkey; the sliced fish is handled with dry salted method and generally ripened at room temperature in order to shorten a ripening period. Lakerda is made from fatty fish mainly the members of Scombridae family. The members of Scombridae family are contain high levels of free amino acids especially histidine in their muscle, therefore they are often implicated in biogenic amine (BA) poisoning incidents. In addition, using elevated ripening temperatures could be enable formation of higher BAs. Results may benefit the fishing industry and researchers who are striving to improve the processing and marketing of salted fish.

Concentrations of eight heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn) were determined in economically important bivalve species: oyster (Ostrea edulis), wedge clam (Donax trunculus), manila clam (Ruditapes philippinarium) and warty clam (Venus verrucosa) from the Marmara and Aegean seas. Samples were collected seasonally between 2008 and 2009. Metal levels of bivalves were found in the following ranges: As 0.02-3.40, Cd 0.02-2.80, Cr 0.19-0.82, Cu 0.82-25.06, Hg < LOD-0.12, Ni 0.09-0.73, Pb 0.05-4.16 and Zn 6.85-899 mg kg(-1). The most abundant elements were Zn > Cu > As. In addition, the results showed that oysters had the highest concentrations of Zn in all seasons. The next abundant heavy metal detected was Cu in oyster and other clam species. It was concluded that in the future, these metals should be monitored regularly.

Mytilus galloprovincialis, the Mediterranean mussel, is an important shellfish species that constitutes the majority of production and consumption among bivalve mollusks in Turkey. Since shellfish can accumulate toxic chemicals from seawater, it is important to monitor bioaccumulation from their natural beds. For this reason, in this study, the aim was to monitor the levels of dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and toxic metals (Pb, Cd, and Hg) in M. galloprovincialis collected from the southern coast of the Marmara Sea from 2014 to 2017. According to the results, the maximum levels of dioxins, PAHs, and toxic metals during the monitoring period were determined as 0.30 pg/g, 2.52 mg/kg, and 0.43-0.34-0.76 (Pb-Cd-Hg) mg/kg, respectively. Dioxin, PAHs, and toxic metal amounts in mussel samples were determined to be below the threshold levels enforced by the European Commission. The highest benzo(a)pyrene and total PAHs were determined in winter 2015, while toxic metals, dioxins, and dioxin-like PCBs (WHO/PCDD/F-PCB-TEQ) were higher in autumn 2014 than the rest of the sampling period. In conclusion, toxic chemicals monitored in M. galloprovincialis were found at low concentrations from the point of view of food safety. However, monitoring of these or other toxic chemicals should be repetitively performed in the future to ensure food safety in aquatic animals.