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 daily consumption in Malaysia. Total lipids extracted from 10 species of the selected fish were analyzed for their total fat, fatty acids composition and cholesterol content. Most of the fish contained less than 6% lipid by weight and total cholesterol content was 37.1-49.1 mg/100g. The composition of 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), omega -6 PUFA (11.0-20.0%), saturated fatty acid (3.63-11.4%), and finally, mono unsaturated fatty acid (MUFA; 1.37-9.12%). All samples showed a much higher 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 menhaden 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 samples ranged from 5.49 to 25.2. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.