Investigation of Lipid Oxidation in commonly consumed Fish oil supplements in Syrian market

Abstract

Fish oil supplements are a rich source of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (?3-PUFA) which are important to maintain a good health. However, oxidation of these fatty acids might lead to deterioration of the quality of food and reverse their beneficial effects since oxidation products are implicated in variety of diseases. It might also be the underlying reason of the conflict outcomes of clinical studies that evaluated ?3-PUFA health benefits. We investigated the oxidative status of three brands (A, B, and C) of fish oil supplements from the Syrian marketplace by measuring peroxide value (PV), anisidine value (AV) and total oxidation value (TOTOX), and monitoring the oxidation progress for one year. PV and TOTOX of brands A and B were above the acceptable limits set by Global organization for EPA and DHA omega-3 (GOED) from the beginning of the study. AV of brand A exceeded the limit by the end of the study, while AV of brand B was unaccepted from the third month. On the other hand, values of brand C were in the allowed range for the whole period of our study. Only one brand met the criteria for oxidation levels set by GOED while the other two were highly oxidized. We recommend that oxidation levels of fish oil have to be evaluated prior to any clinical study.