Nutritional and lipid profiles in marine fish species from Brazil

Centesimal composition and lipid profiles were evaluated in muscle tissue of four species of Brazilian fish using the Kjeldahl and Bligh & Dyer gravimetric methods and gas chromatography, respectively. The moisture, protein, total lipid, and ash values (g/100 g) ranged from 71.13 to 78.39; 18.10 to 19.87; 1.05 to 9.03; and 1.03 to 1.73, respectively. Palmitic acid was prevalent among the saturated fatty acids (10.89-20.38%) and oleic acid was the main monounsaturated acid identified (4.26-15.77%). The eicosapentaenoic-EPA (6.41-10.66%) and docosahexaenoic-DHA (9.12-30.20%) acids were the most prevalent polyunsaturated acids. The average values, which are indicative of nutritional quality, were: Polyunsaturated/saturated (P/S) (1.11-1.47), ω6/ω3 (0.08-0.21), hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic acid ratios (HH) (0.87-2.43), atherogenicity index (IA) (0.26-0.60), and thrombogenicity index (IT) (0.20-0.44). These results demonstrated that the lipid profiles of the studied species are of nutritional quality.