Abstract
Salmon feeds have changed over the years, leading to changed biochemical composition of the fish. The main aim of this study was to compare biochemical compositions and storage stability of commercially produced organic and conventional salmon. Organically (n = 40) and conventionally farmed salmon (n = 39) were sampled. The fish were anesthetized, killed by gill cutting and bled before filleting. Fish samples were subjected to proximate analysis, fatty acid and amino acid composition, along with colour and TBARS analyses. The lipid content of organically and conventionally farmed salmon was 13% and 17 %, respectively. Organic fish contained approximately 48 % more EPA and DHA than did the conventional fish, 17.2 g kg−1 vs. 11.6 g kg−1, respectively. The organic salmon had lower colour saturation than the conventional, and TBARS were higher in the organic than in the conventional salmon. To conclude, the main differences between fresh organic and conventional salmon were related to lipid content and fatty acid composition. The high energy level in both groups should be considered when making dietary recommendations. Organic salmon is less stable due to its high content of long-chained unsaturated fatty acids, and appears similar to conventionally farmed salmon some years ago.
Highlights
Seafood consumption has long been associated with a healthy lifestyle and reduced risk of several lifestyle-related diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases (CVD)
In previous studies, involving conventionally farmed salmon harvested in 1994-1996, 2003, 2010 and 2012, the lipid contents were 100 g kg−1, 74 g kg−1, 123 g kg−1 and 140 g kg−1, respectively (Bell et al, 1998, Blanchet et al, 2005; Jensen et al, 2012; Lundebye et al, 2017)
This indicates that there has been a tendency towards increasing lipid content of conventionally farmed fish during the last decades
Summary
Seafood consumption has long been associated with a healthy lifestyle and reduced risk of several lifestyle-related diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The health benefits have mainly been credited to the high amounts of the long-chained omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Fish and seafood are rich in good quality proteins, along with micronutrients such as iodine, selenium, vitamins D and B12 (Weichselbaum et al, 2013). In recent years it has been questioned whether today’s farmed fish are still as health-promoting, due to increased use of vegetable feed components. Aquaculture feeds contained mainly marine ingredients, such as fish meal and fish oils from small fish species not suited for human consumption. The aquaculture share has grown to 18 % (FAO, 2018), and the traditional feed ingredients have become scarce
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