What's in a tin of tuna?

[Pebbilita]

I was sitting at my desk making a tuna sandwich for my lunch and pickled up the tin to read its ingredients: Tuna and salt. Its nutritional contents were �in 100g of drained contents: 25g protein. I thought that most of the tuna "flesh" would be protein�. Like muscle. What is the other 75g in the tin made of? I emailed the company and got no reply. Any ideas anyone?

[gen2]

Most of it is water.

[Pebbilita]

but it says drained contents. Are saying the tuna "flesh" is mostly water? 75g worth?

[gen2]

Yes, the flesh of all living animals, land or aquatic, is mostly water. Plants generaly have a water content which is much higher still.

Here is a site I found where tuna muscle is analysed. Tinned tuna is typcally low in oils (my tin says 0.5%) and so wil be at the higher end of water content.

http://www.rsnz.org/publish/nzjmfr/1988/49.pdf

[Pebbilita]

Brilliant! Mystery solved! Thanks gen2!

[dundurn]

Water is very commonly the "elephant in the room" when it comes to food. We buy a pound of steak and wonder why it shrinks when we cook it, forgetting that it has the same sort of water content as we do. Butter and margarine typically contain only 16 to 18% water but low-fat spreads can be as high as 50% water. Celery has been described as "an expensive way to buy water". There are so few nutrients in calery that eating it is commonly reckoned to consume more calories than it contributes.

[Thersites]

...which is why it's so useful in diets!