DHA: Can It Benefit Salmon Marketing?

The original "Eskimo" cardiovascular health benefit of omega-3 fatty acids was ascribed to EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid). The two readily available fish body oils (from U.S. menhaden and Japanese sardines) have approximately 180 mg of EPA/gram, accompanied by much less (120 mg) DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). The EPA was recognized as the source of a prostaglandin (PGI3) acting as an agent to keep the vascular walls soft and flexible, thus hindering atherosclerosis and vascular constriction, but DHA presented a problem as no such role for it was known. Australian researchers identified DHA as preventing cardiac arrhythmia because they used tuna body oil (DHA ~5 x EPA) in their research. Generally our analyses of salmon muscle triglycerides seem to show DHA > EPA. Total salmon muscle lipids in fillets obtain extra DHA from phospholipids. In the United Kingdom an official medical body now recommends eating fish twice a week and "oily" fish once a week. Examination of DHA for a legitimate health claim in the cardi...