Culinary diversity reflects the particularities of each culture, and puffer fish, also known as fugu, exemplifies this contrast between countries.
While in Japan it is considered a delicacy, in Spain its consumption has been prohibited for two decades due to its high toxicity. Cutting or cooking it incorrectly can be fatal.
Fugu is a highly valued dish in Japanese cuisine, despite its high mortality rate; 60% of people who consume spoiled fugu die. In Japan, a special permit is required to handle this fish, since there are more than 120 species with poison in different parts of their body, with tetrodotoxin being its lethal component.
Tetrodotoxin, a substance 1,200 times more poisonous than cyanide, makes the fugu the most poisonous fish in the world. For this reason, since April 2004, its consumption has been prohibited in Spain and other countries of the European Union, according to Regulation (EC) No. 853/2004 of the European Parliament.
Despite its danger, researchers from the University of Granada are exploring medical applications for tetrodotoxin. It has been observed that this poisonous substance could become a treatment to relieve pain related to cancer. Experiments in preclinical models have yielded promising results, suggesting a possible therapeutic use in the management of neuropathic pain.
Tetrodotoxin, despite its lethal capacity, emerges as a potential analgesic in the context of cancer. International studies support the idea that this substance could offer relief for neuropathic pain, although clinical evidence is still in the development phase.
This contrast between its danger as a food and its possible therapeutic usefulness highlights the complexity and multiple facets that certain elements can present in the field of gastronomy and medicine.
