Fatty acid composition and influence of temperature on the lipid stability of Arapaima gigas meat

• Main Authors: Nathália Miranda Coutinho, Anna Carolina Vilhena da Cruz Silva Canto, Eliane Teixeira Mársico, Flávio Alves da Silva, Luiz Antônio Moura Keller, Carlos Adam Conte-Junior, Maria Lúcia Guerra Monteiro
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto de Tecnologia de Alimentos (ITAL) 2019-04-01
• Series: Brazilian Journal of Food Technology
• Subjects: Pirarucu; Freshwater fish; Proximate composition; Lipid quality indices; Lipid oxidation; Gas chromatography
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1981-67232019000100408&lng=en&tlng=en

Abstract The nutritional quality and lipid stability of Arapaima gigas fillets were investigated. A total of 27.32 kg of A. gigas fillets were obtained and the proximate composition and fatty acid profile immediately determined. In addition, the lipid oxidation parameters were analyzed during 15 and 90 days at 4 °C and –20 °C, respectively. The A. gigas fillets presented high protein (> 15%) and low lipid (< 2%) contents with elevated polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFAs) contents (43.97%). The nutritional quality indices were the atherogenicity index (0.35), thrombogenicity index (0.28) and the hypocholesterolemic acid/ hypercholesterolemic acid ratio (2.37). Overall, an increase followed by a decrease was observed in the peroxide index (PI) and malondialdehyde content (MDA) results at both storage temperatures ( p < 0.05). The lipid profile exhibited great nutritional quality, however new conservation methods should be investigated for this matrix due to increased lipid oxidation during refrigerated and frozen storage.