Abstract
Fish and seafood may play an important role for nutrition and food security as they contain essential vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids. The aim of this study was to describe the nutrient composition, including fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals, in commonly consumed fish species (fillet- and whole fish samples) sampled off the Northwest African coast. Furthermore, we assessed the species’ contributions to the recommended nutrient intake (RNI) values from the World Health Organization (WHO). Samples of commercially important fish species (Sardina pilchardus, Engraulis encrasicolus, Trachurus trachurus, Pagellus acarne) were collected using trawling on the R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen in May 2017 and analyzed for nutrients at the Institute of Marine Research as individual and composite samples. All the analyzed fish species were good dietary sources of several vitamins and minerals and whole fish were substantially more nutrient dense than fillet samples, especially with regard to vitamin A, iodine, zinc, calcium, and iron. Including 100 g of sardine or anchovy (whole fish) in the diet, would contribute substantially to the RNI for vitamin B12, vitamin D and vitamin A, EPA and DHA as well as the minerals iodine, zinc, and calcium. This study shows that fish consumed with skin, bone, and viscera may be very nutrient dense and important for local food and nutrition security.
Highlights
African region [1,2]
Seafood plays a central role for food and nutrition security [3], as it contributes with several essential nutrients, which are important for human health [4,5]
This paper presents analytical values for a wide array of nutrients in commonly consumed fish species caught off the Northwest coast of Africa
Summary
Seafood plays a central role for food and nutrition security [3], as it contributes with several essential nutrients, which are important for human health [4,5]. Fish are a high quality protein food and include essential amino acids [5], and fatty acids such as the long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs), of which eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) are considered beneficial for human health [6,7,8]. Nutrient composition of fish and seafood may exhibit significant variation within and among species, depending on tissue type, habitat, region, and season [12,13,14]
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