Fatty acid composition and cholesterol content of selected marine fish in Malaysian waters

A consumer survey identified 10 species of most-preferred marine fish for d aily consumption in Malaysia. Total lipids extracted from 10 species of the selected fish were analyzed for their total fat, fatty acids composition a nd cholesterol content. Most of the fish contained less than 6% lipid by we ight and total cholesterol content was 37.1-49.1 mg/100g. The composition o f fatty acids showed that total omega -3 poly unsaturated fatty acids (w-3 PUFA; 29.7-48.4%) were the highest, followed by other PUFA (27.7-40.0), ome ga -6 PUFA (11.0-20.0%), saturated fatty acid (3.63-11.4%), and finally, mo no unsaturated fatty acid (MUFA; 1.37-9.12%). All samples showed a much hig her content of w-3 PUFA when compared to standard menhaden oil. Most of the fish had a higher omega -3/omega -6 ratio (2.16-4.14) than the standard me nhaden oil (2.03) except for Four Finger Threadfin (1.50), Indian Mackerel (1.67) and Striped Sea Catfish (1.78). The ratio of PUFA/saturated of the s amples ranged from 5.49 to 25.2. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.