Critical Vitamin Assessment: Pyridoxal, Pyridoxamine, and Pyridoxine Levels for Three Species of Raw and Cooked Fish Samples

Abstract

ABSTRACT The amount of vitamin B6 in foods is reported in the literature as the sum of the pyridoxal (PL), pyridoxamine (PM), and pyridoxine (PN) forms. The levels of the PL, PM, and PN forms of vitamin B6 are different from each other. The aim of the present study was to reveal how cooking methods affect PL, PM, and PN levels in cooked fish samples. Therefore, the widely consumed fish species European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus), gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), and Atlantic bonito (Sarda sarda) were cooked using grilling and baking techniques. The measurable PN amount was negligible. However, significant destruction of both PL and PM in all cooked fishes was detected. The loss in PL ranged from 54 to 97%, while the loss in PM was between 19 and 78%. The loss of PL in baked Atlantic bonito (97%) was significantly higher than in the other fish samples (p < .05). The cooking loss of total vitamin B6 in anchovy, gilthead seabream, and Atlantic bonito was 64, 55, and 85% when grilled and 61, 60, and 89% when baked, respectively.