Safrid

Safrid is a fish belonging to the order Bodloperki, family Safridovi. Its body length reaches up to 50 cm, and its weight up to 400 grams. Its /body/ is elongated and spindle-shaped, with a thin tail slightly flattened to the side.

A characteristic feature of the saffron is the bony plates on the sides of the fish’s body, which sometimes have spines pointing backwards. The horizontal line with bony plates is all over the body of this fish. The name “safrid” is associated with the Black Sea.

The saffron is a pelagic, that is, deep-sea fish, reaching up to 50 cm in length. The largest fish of this species measured by scientists weighed 2 kg. Smaller safrids are usually found and live up to 9 years.

This fish feeds on zooplankton, smaller fish, and sometimes on benthic and benthic crustaceans and cephalopods, which are the most complex molluscs.

Actually, this fish is quite common. The Safridovi family unites about 140 species of fish with different sizes from 20 centimeters to the almost two-meter yellow-tailed giant saffrids. Safrid fish are of important commercial importance.

Useful properties

The meat of the saffron is tender and tasty. In summer and autumn, some individuals of saffron fish contain up to 15%.

This fish is a valuable source of the following vitamins B1, B2, B6, B9, retinol, ascorbic acid, tocopherol, nicotinic acid.

It also contains omega-3 fatty acids, which are an important nutritional component for maintaining heart health.

The health benefits of consuming saffron meat do not end only with maintaining the normal functioning of the cardiovascular system – the iodine present in its composition improves the function of the thyroid gland, stabilizes hemoglobin levels in the blood, and helps to strengthen of the immune system and for increasing intellectual potential.

Up to 20% protein, 2 to 5% fat on average, as well as calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, fluorine, mobilden, cobalt, nickel are present in the composition of the saffron meat.

The high content of phosphorus or as it is also called the “element of cheerfulness” in the meat of this fish has a beneficial effect on the nervous system.

Due to the characteristic fast rhythm of life of the safrid, its meat contains very little fat, and therefore nutritionists recommend its /meat/use in cases of impaired metabolism, atherosclerosis, hypertension and ischemic heart disease.

Safrid is available commercially in our country in fresh and frozen form. It is also used for the production of high-quality preserves /in vegetable oil and in tomato sauce/. Part of the caught safrid is smoked or marinated.

Contraindications for eating saffron

Most scientists are of the opinion that meat from predatory fish such as shark, swordfish, grouper and saffron contain large amounts of mercury compounds.

Mercury exposure has been found to cause chronic neurological disorders in children, and therefore the consumption of these types of fish by pregnant and lactating women, as well as during human infancy, is strongly discouraged. Mercury remains in the human body for a period of about a year.

When preparing for consumption, the head of the saffron must be removed, since it is in this part of the predatory fish’s body that all the harmful substances contained in seawater accumulate.

Also, the meat of this fish must be subjected to prolonged heat treatment, since all fish meat is a potential source of parasitic infections.