Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Nov 9;11(11):1661.
doi: 10.3390/biom11111661.

Can Fish and Shellfish Species from the Black Sea Supply Health Beneficial Amounts of Bioactive Fatty Acids?

Albena Merdzhanova  1 , Veselina Panayotova  1 , Diana A Dobreva  1 , Katya Peycheva  1
Affiliations

Can Fish and Shellfish Species from the Black Sea Supply Health Beneficial Amounts of Bioactive Fatty Acids?

Albena Merdzhanova et al. Biomolecules. .

Abstract

Fatty acids (FA) are among the most important natural biologically active compounds. A healthy diet involves the intake of different fatty acids especially from omega-3 (n-3) series. Seafood provides a very good source of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), but in Bulgaria there is limited information regarding the n-3 PUFA contents in traditionally consumed seafood by the population. The aims of this study were to determine lipid content, omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (EPA and DHA), and the recommended daily intake of eleven fish species, three bivalves, rapana, and shrimp harvested in the Western part of Black Sea, Bulgaria. Total lipids were extracted according to the method of Blight and Dyer and fatty acid composition was analyzed by GC/MS. Fatty acid profile showed differences among species. PUFA were found in high content among total lipids, especially in shellfish (60.67-68.9% of total lipids) compared to fish species (19.27-34.86% of total lipids). EPA was found in higher amounts in rapana (0.16 g/100 g ww) and two of pelagic species (up to 0.29 g/100 g ww), whereas DHA prevailed in demersal and the most of pelagic fish (0.16-1.92 g/100 g ww) and bivalves (0.16-1.92 g/100 g ww). The health beneficial n3/n6 and PUFA/SFA ratios were found in all analyzed species. The lower values of the lipid nutritional quality indices (AI < 1, TI < 1) and higher for h/H index (0.8-1.78 for fish and 1.52 to 4.67 for bivalves and shrimp) confirm that the commonly consumed Black Sea fish and shellfish may provide health benefits for local populations. This study shows the seafood amounts that can provide the minimum recommended intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Keywords: Black Sea; nutritional quality; omega-3 fatty acids; recommended daily intake; seafood.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Differences in average fatty acid groups among the analyzed fish species with different lipid content.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Pearson correlation between trophic levels (TrLev) and fatty acid groups and nutritional quality indices.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Differences in average fatty acid groups among the analyzed shellfish species.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Hierarchical clustering analysis of the eleven fish and 5 shellfish species from the Black Sea.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Calder P.C., Yaqoob P. Marine omega-3 fatty acids and coronary heart disease. Curr. Opin. Cardiol. 2012;27:412–419. doi: 10.1097/HCO.0b013e328353febd. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Calder P.C. Functional Roles of Fatty Acids and Their Effects on Human Health. J. Parenter. Enter. Nutr. 2015;39:18S–32S. doi: 10.1177/0148607115595980. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Calder P.C. Very long-chain n-3 fatty acids and human health: Fact, fiction and the future. Proc. Nutr. Soc. 2018;77:52–72. doi: 10.1017/S0029665117003950. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gladyshev M.I., Sushchik N.N. Long-chain Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Natural Ecosystems and the Human Diet: Assumptions and Challenges. Biomolecules. 2019;9:485. doi: 10.3390/biom9090485. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Carboni S., Kaur G., Pryce A., McKee K., Desbois A.P., Dick J.R., Galloway S.D.R., Hamilton D.L. Mussel Consumption as a “Food First” Approach to Improve Omega-3 Status. Nutrients. 2019;11:1381. doi: 10.3390/nu11061381. - DOI - PMC - PubMed