| Abstract
| - Accumulation patterns of free amino acids (FAAs) in white muscle ofmilkfish (Chanoschanos)during the period of 8-month growth were investigated. Histidine,taurine, and glycine were thepredominant FAAs. An increase in histidine was observed duringgrowth. The level present inthe 1-month-reared fish (mean weight = 58 g) was about 5 times higherthan that in the initial fish(1.4 g). After 8 months of growth, milkfish contained 59 μmol/g,which was responsible for 72% ofthe total FAAs. There was a positive correlation between thehistidine content and fish body weight.In contrast, taurine decreased with increasing rearing time.The glycine level was not correlatedwell with fish size. The total relative amounts of histidine,taurine, and glycine remained aboutthe same, although the individual contributions varied considerably inthe FAA pool during theperiod of cultivation. Keywords: Milkfish; free amino acids; histidine; growth; whitemuscle
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