The fishy smell of fish arises from amines fish and when lemon juice (citric aci
ID: 502474 • Letter: T
Question
The fishy smell of fish arises from amines fish and when lemon juice (citric acid) is squeezed onto fish it reduces the fishy smell and taste because the amine then protonated (and then also has a higher vapor pressure). Neutral amines are rather volatile whereas the ammonium ions are much less so. Live and even just fresh caught fish do not have fishy smell. It develops as time of death extends. Comment on why that would be the case. AND comment on whether a squeeze of lemon juice actually makes the fish safer to eat, even if more appealing... or at least less repelling!Explanation / Answer
Live and fresh fishes do not emit fishy smell while dead fishes do. The reason is because amines do not exist in the body freely. However, amines are the by-products of various metabolic processes. Amines are normally polar and are usually ejected out of the body with water. However, normal metabolic processes cease in dead fishes and hence, the amines aren’t removed from the body. The accumulation of amines in the body leads to fishy smell.
Acids are bad for human body. Acids damage the inner walls of the stomach and can hamper metabolic processes; hence squeezing citric acid on dead fishes is good in the sense that it makes the fish less repelling. However, acids must be added to just neutralize the amines present in dead fish. Excess acid will lead to damage to the human body.