Physical and chemical properties of lipid by-products from seafood waste

Publisher Summary Lipids constitute between 10% and 40% of the total human diet. They play a pivotal role in terms of flavor and palatability of food products and, in addition, their presence affects the general physical properties of foods. Lipids are an important source of essential fatty acids and serve as carriers of fat soluble vitamins. Renewable marine resources have always been important origins of the human food supply. Fish lipids are known to be rich in Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA), specially the n-3 PUFA family of linolenic acid and its derivatives such as eicosapentaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid. These fatty acids play a vital role in human nutrition, disease prevention, and health promotion. Lipids are defined on the basis of a specific physical property, namely, solubility. The type and amount of fatty acids in fish tissue are influenced by diet, and other factors such as size, age, reproductive status, geographical location, and season have been shown to affect fat content and composition of fish muscle.