Is puffer fish poisonous?

Pufferfish is the most common and dangerous poisonous fish, commonly known as Timba. In the classification of fish, it belongs to pure order, and there are 329 species in the world. Round snapper with smooth and scaleless body, spiny snapper covered with small thorns, box snapper covered with bone armor, etc. There are about 65,438+000 poisonous species in the world, and there are about 40 species in China, such as puffer fish in East Fiona Fang. The puffer fish has a bloated body and an elastic airbag in its abdomen. When it is frightened, meets the enemy or gets angry, it swallows its own air into the air bag, makes its stomach swell like a balloon, floats on the water, plays dead and lies down, and then "vents" after the danger. There are many records in ancient books in China, such as Er Ya Yi written by Luoyuan in Song Dynasty, which said: "The puffer fish is like a tadpole, with a white belly and a black back, and it is yellow. Eyes can be opened and closed. When you touch something, your abdomen is like a bow, and you float on the water. " Its mouth is small and its teeth are as sharp as front teeth. It is reported that a Japanese chef accidentally bit off a finger while peeling a live puffer fish. Eating shrimps, crabs, oysters, sea urchins, squid and other fish is very harmful to shellfish culture. They are called sea tigers in the north.

The viscera, blood, especially liver and gonads of some puffer fish are toxic, especially before spawning. Kidney, eyes, gills and skin are also toxic, called tetrodotoxin. Chemically speaking, it is an amino perhydroquinazoline compound, which is easily soluble in water and has neurotoxicity. It is toxic to almost all vertebrates, and it can kill as long as the dose reaches half the weight of the injured animal. Its toxicity is 25 times that of nux vomica and 13 times that of cyanide. The toxin of fugu obscurus can kill 33 people. Interestingly, tetrodotoxin has no effect on lower animals such as mollusks, annelids, echinoderms and coelenterates.

The Japanese custom of eating puffer fish is world-famous.

Tetrodotoxin mainly hinders nerve and muscle conduction in human body, causing paralysis of nerve endings and nerve centers. If people eat by mistake, they will feel dizzy, pale, weak limbs, abnormal feelings of lips, tongue and esophagus within half an hour. Severe cases will be numb, top-heavy, respiratory and circulatory failure for 4-6 hours, at the latest 8 hours, and death. It is expected to be cured in 8 hours. According to Japanese statistics, the number of people who die from eating puffer fish by mistake exceeds 100 every year, accounting for 6 1.5% of those who die from eating poisonous fish by mistake. Li Shizhen in the Ming Dynasty also recorded in the book Compendium of Materia Medica: "The puffer fish is highly toxic, although it tastes delicious, it is illegal to treat it, and it hurts people to eat it." According to the lucky survivors, the feeling at that time was that I suddenly felt numb and trembling all over and my limbs were weak. From time to time, I suddenly touch the fire like a frozen hand, and my hand can't weigh the weight of the object. I feel that a bucket of water is as heavy as a feather. I want to say something, but I can't say it. My breathing is getting faster and faster.

Although puffer fish is highly toxic, the puffer fish meat is not only edible after treatment, but also fresh and delicious, which is called the best fish. Known as "you can know fish without eating puffer fish, and eating puffer fish is tasteless". Su Dongpo even wrote a poem: "Peach blossoms outside the bamboo are three or two, and the duck prophet on the riverside. The reed buds on the ground are short, which is the time when the puffer fish will go up. " Praise puffer fish. The Japanese custom of eating puffer fish is world-famous, and a puffer fish can be sold for more than 200 dollars in Japanese restaurants. Of course, they are strict with puffer fish, and they have to go through more than 30 processes such as fin removal, eye removal, peeling and viscera removal. Some parts of China also have the habit of eating puffer fish. According to Chen Yuanlong's "Gezhi Jingyuan" in the Qing Dynasty: "In the mid-spring season, Wu people receive guests at this time. Without this fish, it is not a grand event, and its taste is especially suitable." It is said that after Su Dongpo ate puffer fish, someone asked him how it tasted. He said, "It's worth eating puffer fish and dying." According to reports, a foreign oceanographer tasted his own puffer fish meat, saying that it was "delicious, the fish melted in his mouth, but there was a slight sting on his tongue, but it was only for a moment." After a quarter of an hour, I felt unusually relaxed, and there was a refreshing feeling of drunkenness in my mind. Then the whole person becomes very happy and energetic. "Generally speaking, as long as the fresh puffer fish is eviscerated, decapitated, bled and peeled, the meat is soaked in clear water for a period of time, and then cooked at a high temperature of 120℃ for more than 30 minutes to 1 hour before eating, it will not be poisoned, but you must consult an experienced person and don't rashly" eat the puffer fish to death ". In the Song Dynasty, Shen Kuo said in Meng Qian's Bi Tan: "Wu people are addicted to puffer fish, and they often kill them when they encounter poison, so they can take it as a warning." Song Daimei said: "Spring buds are born in spring, and sunshine flies on the spring shore. When puffer fish is in season, several fish and shrimps are expensive. Its shape is very strange, and its poison is gone ... all the words are beautiful, who said that death is like hemp. "

Tetrodotoxin is very useful in medicine. It has an inhibition rate of nearly 40% for sarcoma 180 and liver cancer. Can be used for treating nasopharyngeal carcinoma, esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, colon cancer, etc. It can also be used for cancer analgesia, postoperative analgesia and relieving pain caused by gastric ulcer.