Analytical Quantification of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Smoke-dried tuna: A Comparative Study across the Lakshadweep Islands.

Abstract

Lakshadweep is an archipelago consisting of 35 vibrant coral reef atolls, situated 200-440 km off the south-west coast of India, and dispersed over an area of about 78,000 km2 in the Arabian Sea. Skipjack tuna is one of the major species contributing to the fishery of the island, and a large portion of around 90% of the catch is processed into the traditional smoke-dried product masmin. The processing techniques, which have remained largely unchanged for centuries, involve a sequence of seawater boiling, intensive wood smoking, and solar drying.While smoking methods effectively preserve the fish and impart a unique organoleptic profile highly valued in domestic and international markets, they also introduce significant food safety risks, such as contamination with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) formed during the incomplete combustion of wood fuels. Given the potential health risks associated with PAHs, this study evaluated the concentration of 16 priority PAHs in masmin using gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) across the islands. The results highlight variations in PAH concentrations across different locations, with Minicoy exhibiting the highest average contamination of total PAH, at 2839.44 ± 15.70 μg kg-1, whereas the Amini samples were contaminated with 224.74 ± 33.93 μg kg-1. The average concentration of benzo [a] pyrene ranged from 2.56 ± 12.29 μg kg-1in Amini samples to 40.87 ± 5.69 μg kg-1 in Minicoy samples. The findings underscore the need for continuous monitoring, especially in the smoking process, to ensure food safety and long-term viability of masmin exports in a global regulatory environment.

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