Fatty Acid and Cholesterol Content of Sharks and Rays

✍ Scribed by Julia S. Lytle; Thomas F. Lytle

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 495 KB
• Volume: 7
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0889-1575
• DOI: 10.1006/jfca.1994.1010

✦ Synopsis

Cartilaginous fish of the Gulf of Mexico may help to meet the ever increasing consumer demand for seafood products that are low in fat and enriched in the (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids reputed to have significant health benefits. Two shark species, Allantic sharpnose shark (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae) and blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus), and two ray species, Atlantic stingray (Dasyatis sabina) and southern stingray (Menticirhuts americanus), were collected from nearcoastal waters in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico and analyzed for fatty acids and proximates. Fat content is very low in these fish, ranging only from 0.45 to (0.62 %), which is similar to reports on cartilaginous fish from colder and also more tropical waters. The major (n-3) fatty acid in all four species is docosahexaenoic acid with total (n-3) fatty acids accounting for (20-33 %) of the total fatty acids of these fish. The (n-3) fatty acid content is somewhat less than that reported in cold water sharks, rays, and skates and more than that reported in cartilaginous fish in tropical waters. Cholesterol content ranges from 16 to (69 \mathrm{mg} / 100 \mathrm{~g}). c 1994 Academic Press. Inc.