When is puffer fish the most poisonous?

From February to May, puffer fish is the most toxic. "There are three or two peach blossoms outside the bamboo, and there are warm duck prophets by the river. The beach is covered with wormwood, asparagus is sprouting, and puffer fish are preparing to swim upstream from the sea back to the river. At present, it is the season with the strongest reproductive ability of puffer fish and the strongest tetrodotoxin.

1) The puffer fish is cylindrical, generally about100-300mm long and up to 630mm, and it contains toxic substance-tetrodotoxin. The toxicity of puffer fish is caused by tetrodotoxin in its body. There are reports of death from eating puffer fish every year in China.

2) "Wild puffer fish contain a variety of toxic organs, and most of them are distributed in hidden parts." According to the announcement, the order of tetrodotoxin content is: ovary; Spleen and liver; Blood "; Eyes, gill rakes, skin, testicles and muscles. The ovary and liver of puffer fish are two highly toxic organs in the viscera of puffer fish, and their poison content often changes with the seasons. February-May every year is the ovarian development period of the baiji dolphin, which is highly toxic.

3) Tetrodotoxin is one of the most toxic non-protein substances in nature, belonging to a neurotoxin. Its toxicity is equivalent to 1250 times of the highly toxic drug sodium cyanide (arsenic), and only 0.48 mg can cause death. A puffer fish contains enough toxins to kill 30 adults. Its toxins mainly include tetrodotoxin and tetrodotoxin. It first acts on the gastrointestinal tract and can cause local irritation symptoms. Secondly, it quickly inhibits the central and peripheral nerves after entering the blood, causing vomiting, nerve paralysis, chills in the limbs, and then the heartbeat and breathing stop.

Safety reminder:

"Three noes" stay away from puffer fish

1) All wild puffer fish carry tetrodotoxin. In view of the serious harm of tetrodotoxin poisoning, Qingyuan US Food and Drug Administration reminds the general public to cherish their lives and their families and stay away from tetrodotoxin. Do "three noes":

2) Do not eat: it is difficult to destroy tetrodotoxin by ordinary processing and cooking methods, and people should not eat puffer fish at will. Once consumers discover the illegal operation of puffer fish, they should report it to the local food and drug supervision department in time.

3) Don't pick up: You should improve your awareness of self-protection, don't pick up abandoned fish in coastal areas, especially near beaches, and don't buy fish you don't know on the roadside or in the market. When you meet a fish with a big head, a big chest, a small stomach, a small tail, bright stripes or colors on the back, and a smooth or prickly surface, you need to carefully distinguish whether it is a puffer fish (once threatened, the puffer fish will swallow water or air, making its body swell into a prickly ball).

4) Non-processing: Some people think that puffer fish is non-toxic as long as the toxic head, viscera and skin are removed, or after pickling, drying and high-temperature cooking. These statements have no scientific basis. Tetrodotoxin, as an acid-resistant and high-temperature resistant animal alkali, has stable chemical properties and can be decomposed above 220℃, which is difficult to be destroyed by general cooking methods, including pickling or sun exposure. Even if puffer fish is stewed at the high temperature of 130℃1hour, it can only decompose about 30% of the toxins, which is far from the time and temperature for general home cooking. Therefore, people should not process and eat puffer fish by themselves.