ABSTRACT
Seafood, such as fish, crustacean and molluscan shellfish, and echinoderms, provides in the edible part (e. g., filet, abdominal muscle) many nutritional components beneficial for the human diet like n-3 polyunsaturated long chain fatty acids (PUFAs), namely eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), essential elements such as selenium and iodine, high potassium and low sodium concentrations, and the vitamins D, A, E, and B(12), as well as taurine (2-aminoethanesulfonic acid) among others. Its protein is highly digestible due to low connective tissue content, and cholesterol content is also low in fish. Lean fish species are extremely low in fat content (<1 %), while fatty species are extremely rich in PUFAs. However, being subject to environmental influences from its habitat, seafood also entails water-borne health risks such as organic pollutants, toxins, parasites, and heavy metals. Nevertheless, the vast majority of experimental and epidemiological studies have proven that the benefits of fish intake exceed the potential risks even for vulnerable consumer groups.
Subject(s)
Health Promotion , Nutritive Value , Seafood/adverse effects , Animals , Fatty Acids, Omega-3 , Fishes , Food Contamination , Harmful Algal Bloom , Humans , Metals, Heavy , Risk Assessment , Risk Factors , Shellfish , Water PollutantsABSTRACT
Lipid determination by the Smedes method was tested in an interlaboratory trial performed by nine laboratories from seven countries belonging to the West European Fish Technologists Association Analytical Methods Working Group. Five samples of fish and fishery products with different lipid contents, including two blind duplicates, were distributed among the participants. All laboratories applied a slightly modified Smedes method, which included extraction of lipids by cyclohexane and isopropanol, transfer of lipids to the cyclohexane phase by addition of water, phase separation by centrifugation, and gravimetric lipid determination. The results indicate that the RSD for reproducibility (RSD(R)) was between 4.11 and 6.31% for samples with moderate (7%) and high (14%) lipid content, depending on the sample. Larger SDs among the laboratories were obtained for a cod sample with low lipid content of 0.5%. The method is judged to be suitable as a routine method for lipid determination in fish and fishery products.
