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Review
. 2020 May 18;18(5):265.
doi: 10.3390/md18050265.

Fish-based Bioactives as Potent Nutraceuticals: Exploring the Therapeutic Perspective of Sustainable Food from the Sea

Syed Amir Ashraf  1 , Mohd Adnan  2 , Mitesh Patel  3 , Arif Jamal Siddiqui  2 , Manojkumar Sachidanandan  4 , Mejdi Snoussi  2   5 , Sibte Hadi  6
Affiliations
Review

Fish-based Bioactives as Potent Nutraceuticals: Exploring the Therapeutic Perspective of Sustainable Food from the Sea

Syed Amir Ashraf et al. Mar Drugs. .

Abstract

Recent developments in nutraceuticals and functional foods have confirmed that bioactive components present in our diet play a major therapeutic role against human diseases. Moreover, there is a huge emphasis on food scientists for identifying and producing foods with better bioactive activity, which can ultimately provide wellness and well-being to human health. Among the several well-known foods with bioactive constituents, fish has always been considered important, due to its rich nutritional values and by-product application in food industries. Nutritionists, food scientists, and other scientific communities have been working jointly to uncover new bioactive molecules that could increase the potential and therapeutic benefits of these bioactive components. Despite the innumerable benefits of fish and known fish bioactive molecules, its use by food or pharmaceutical industries is scarce, and even research on fish-based nutraceuticals is not promising. Therefore, this review focuses on the current information/data available regarding fish bioactive components, its application as nutraceuticals for therapeutic purposes in the treatment of chronic diseases, ethnic issues related to consumption of fish or its by-products. Especial emphasis is given on the utilization of fish wastes and its by-products to fulfill the world demand for cheap dietary supplements specifically for underdeveloped/least developed countries.

Keywords: bioactive compounds; fatty acids; fish; functional food; nutraceutical; omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA).

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Average mean proximate composition data * from 62 species of fish [13].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Average mineral composition (mg) of fish [8]. * [11]; ** [14]; *** [15].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Graphically represented statistical data * of number of publications in PubMed from 1980 to 2019. * Publications in PubMed when using search bar for searching several keywords/phrases: (1) nutraceuticals (blue); (2) fish as nutraceuticals (orange); (3) functional food (grey); and (4) fish as functional food (yellow). Moving average trend lines show the importance and urgent need for research concerning the development of cheap fish/fish wastes/fish by-products-based nutraceuticals and functional foods.
Figure 4
Figure 4
World map showing estimated fish consumption per capita worldwide in 2019 [84].
Figure 5
Figure 5
Pictorial representation of health benefits of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in general.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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