Fatty acid profiles of commercially important fish species from the Mediterranean, Aegean and Black Seas

The fat content and fatty acid compositions in the flesh of eight commercially important fish species from the seas of Turkey were evaluated. The fatty acid compositions of wild fish species ranged from 25.5% to 38.7% saturated (SFA), 13.2–27.0% monounsaturated (MUFAs) and 24.8–46.4% polyunsaturated acids (PUFAs). Among them, those occurring in the highest proportions were myristic acid (C14:0, 1.70–10.9%), palmitic acid (C16:0, 15.5–20.5%), palmitoleic acid (C16:1, 2.86–17.0%), stearic acid (C18:0, 3.32–8.18%), oleic acid (C18:1n9 cis, 6.11–20.8%), linoleic acid (C18:2n6, 0.93–4.03%), octadecatetraenoic acid (C18:4n3, 0.02–4.55%), cis-5, 8, 11, 14, 17-eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, C20:5n3, 4.74–11.7%) and cis-4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19-docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6n3, 7.69–36.2%). The proportions of PUFAs-n3 (ranging from 21.7 for mullet to 43.7 for scad) were higher than those of PUFAs-n6 (ranging from 1.24 for bogue to 4.34 for red scorpion fish). EPA and DHA were high in all fish species, increasing the value of these fish species.