Assessment of European cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis, L.) nutritional value and freshness under ice storage using a developed Quality Index Method (QIM) and biochemical methods

Cephalopod landings and consumption have been increasing worldwide during the past decades. The main reason for this increasing demand is that cephalopods are a good protein and lipid source (Kreuzer, 1984; Sinanoglou & Miniadis-Meimaroglou, 1998, 2000; Zlatanos, Laskaridis, Feist, & Sagredos, 2006), thus a highly nutritious food that represents an alternative to over exploited fish resources. Nutritional value of most Japanese squid and cuttlefish are described (Okuzumi & Fujii, 2000). Nevertheless, for the European cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) as for most cephalopods of the Mediterranean and North Atlantic markets it is not yet well studied (Karakoltsidis, Zotos, & Constantinides, 1995; Ruı´z-Capillas, Moral, Morales, & Montero, 2002a).