NUTRITIONAL EVALUATION OF FILLETS, PULP AND CROQUETTES OF WILD CAUGHT LAKE TRASIMENO GOLDFISH (CARASSIUS AURATUS L.)

Processing is required to render the products of some fish species edible, thus enhancing their economic value. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the nutritional value of goldfish (Carassius auratus L.) products from Lake Trasimeno (Umbria, Italy). The same number of fillets (n=20), raw and pre-cooked pulp samples, as well as of croquettes were used to evaluate the proximate composition, total lipid fatty acid profile and the protein and lipid oxidative stability. The water holding capacity (WHC) and the percentage of cooking loss (CL) were also assessed. Despite the low amount of lipids (1.85%), fresh goldfish fillets were characterized by a high PUFA level (54.30%), with DHA being the most abundant long-chain fatty acid (15.60%) followed by EPA (9.45%). Fillet processing reduced both WHC and CL of the final products, while the production of TBARS and carbonylated proteins increased, especially in croquettes (+ 59 and + 77%, respectively). Thrombogenic and atherogenic indexes also increased due to the PUFA reduction, reaching statistical significance only for the croquettes (0.53 vs 0.21 and 0.46 vs 0.34, respectively). These results suggest that goldfish fillets are characterized by a high nutritional value and a good oxidative stability. However, more efforts are needed to preserve these characteristics throughout processing.