Fish oil for human health: omega-3 fatty acid profiles of marine seafood species

The purpose of this study was to investigate the fat contents and fatty acid profiles of the edible meat of 13 different seafood species caught in the Northeastern Mediterranean coast. The fatty acid compositions of seafood species ranged from 27.68% to 36.59% saturated fatty acids, 8.99% to 35.84% monounsaturated fatty acids and 10.69% to 39.57% polyunsaturated fatty acids. Myristic acid (C14:0, 0.93-5.59%), palmitic acid (C16:0, 13.68-23.89%), palmitoleic acid (C16:1n7, 0.85-6.00%), heptadecanoic acid (C17:0, 0.67-2.23%), stearic acid (C18:0, 6.82-10.89%), vaccenic acid (C18:1n-7, 1.05-4.01%), oleic acid (C18:1n-9, 4.87-28.73%), linoleic acid (C18:2n-6, 0.32-2.63%), arachidonic acid (C20:4n-6, 0.22-0,82%), eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5n-3, 1.72-10.73%) and docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6n-3, 4.07-31.44%) were the most important fatty acids in most of species. All seafood species had high levels of EPA and DHA and much higher total n-3 PUFA than n-6 PUFA content. The ratio of w6/w3 PUFAs ranged from 0.02 in European squid to 0.48 in striped piggy. Atherogenicity (IA) and Thrombogenicity Index (IT) values ranged from 0.40 to 0.87 and from 0.17 to 0.79, respectively.