The objective of this study was to collect data about the total lipids, cholesterol content and fatty acid composition of fifteen species of fishes common in Taiwan. Samples, obtained from November to December 1993, included tilapia, carp, silver carp, milkfish, sea perch, black spotted grouper, Pacific saury, mullet, larval fish, barred Spanish mackerel, ribbon fish, white pomfret, escolar, Greenland halibut and blue marlin. The distribution of saturated (SFA), monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were 18-41, 18-50 and 24-44%. The distinction between fresh water fish oils and marine fish oils was that the major PUFA in the former is n-6 system, but in the later is n-3 system. The n-3/n-6 ratio was 0.56 for fresh water fish oils, and 4.66 for marine fish oils. All fish can be grouped into four categories according to the lipid content: lean (<2%), low fat (2-4%), medium fat (4-8%) and high fat (>8%). It was estimated that these could contribute respectively about 350, 600, 900, 2300mg of n-3 PUFA per 100g. The total lipid content decided the contribution of n-3 PUFA. The variation in the fat content was found to be large between species, but the cholesterol content was kept between 30-80mg/100g. Cholesterol/saturated-fat index (CSI) of all fish was between 2 and 8.
The objective of this study was to collect data about the total lipids, cholesterol content and fatty acid composition of fifteen species of fishes common in Taiwan. Samples, obtained from November to December 1993, included tilapia, carp, silver carp, milkfish, sea perch, black spotted grouper, Pacific saury, mullet, larval fish, barred Spanish mackerel, ribbon fish, white pomfret, escolar, Greenland halibut and blue marlin. The distribution of saturated (SFA), monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were 18-41, 18-50 and 24-44%. The distinction between fresh water fish oils and marine fish oils was that the major PUFA in the former is n-6 system, but in the later is n-3 system. The n-3/n-6 ratio was 0.56 for fresh water fish oils, and 4.66 for marine fish oils. All fish can be grouped into four categories according to the lipid content: lean (<2%), low fat (2-4%), medium fat (4-8%) and high fat (>8%). It was estimated that these could contribute respectively about 350, 600, 900, 2300mg of n-3 PUFA per 100g. The total lipid content decided the contribution of n-3 PUFA. The variation in the fat content was found to be large between species, but the cholesterol content was kept between 30-80mg/100g. Cholesterol/saturated-fat index (CSI) of all fish was between 2 and 8.