The amount of lipids and fatty acid composition in seafood is known to be influenced by various factors in different species or within a species, such as geographical region, season, feeding habits and diet, age, sex, spawning period etc.
Seafood lipids encompass important healthy nutrients, such as n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs), which may have a significant effect on human cardiovascular health and needs to be supplied by the human diet.
Among these fatty acids, n-3 PUFAs represent a large share. Particularly, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5 n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6 n-3) are the most abundant n-3 PUFA present in seafood.
Fish consumption satisfies nutritional requirements for essential n-3 fatty acids, primarily eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids, which are two long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids mainly present in fish.
DHA is mainly found in the brain and the retina, and it plays a key role for the development and maintenance of the visual and cognitive systems.
DHA is essential for normal fetal brain and cognitive development as the formation of neuron synapses in the brain depends strongly on the integration of this fatty acid into growing neurons. Meanwhile, EPA serves as a precursor of eicosanoids which are hormonelike substances such as prostaglandins, thromboxanes and leucotriens.
Consumption of large amounts of n-3 PUFA exerts a positive effect on a wide array of cardiovascular health concerns ranging from hypertension and atherosclerosis to myocardial infarction and stroke. In fact, animal studies indicate that n-3 PUFAs play a bioactive cardiovascular protective role.
Seafood lipids and fatty acids
