Continuation to Biochemical composition….

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 Fish as a food & raw material for processing
 Biochemical composition
 Factors which affects the biochemical composition
 Major compostion
 Water (70-80 %)
 Proteins (17-22 %in fin fish; 7-23 % in crustaceans and molluscs)

 Sarcoplasmic: 15–30% of the total protein content; soluble in aqueous and low salt concentration

 Myofibrillar : 65–70% of the total protein content; soluble in high salt concentration

 Stroma proteins: 3% of the total muscle protein content; non-soluble

1. Sarcoplasmic proteins: Sarcoplasmic enzymes: catylsis the denaturation of peptides (cleavage
of peptide bonds), PPO, Cathecol oxidase, etc., pigmented proteins, antifreeze proteins.
2. Myofibrillar proteins: myosin, actin, troponin, tropomyosin, and other albumins
3. Stroma proteins/ connective tissues: Collagen, elastin and gelatin.
4. Other non-protein nitrogen: amino acids, creatine, nucleotides, TMAO, etc. and their
significance.
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 Lipids are the generic names assigned to a group of fat soluble compounds
found in the tissues of plants and animals,: and are broadly classified as: a)
triglycerides, b) phospholipids, c) sphingomyelins, d) waxes, and e) sterols.

 Marine lipids are composed of

 Triacylglycerols, phospholipids, sterols, wax esters, and
 Some unusual lipids, such as glyceryl esters, glycolipids, sulfolipids, and
hydrocarbons.

 The amounts of lipids in fish may vary from 0.2% to 23.7%,

 depending upon species, anatomical position, organs, sex, season, and diet.
 most of the variations being in the triacylglycerol content while phospholipids
show much less variation
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 Fish are often classified on the basis of their fat contents into
 lean (fat less than 5%) e.g. cod, hake.
 fat fish (fat 5–10%) e.g. mullet
 fatty fish (fat more than 10%) e.g. sardine, anchovy, tuna, mackerel, eel.

 The distribution of lipid in fish muscle is heterogeneous, especially

in fish with high lipid content.

 Lean fish store lipids only to a limited extent in the liver,

 Fatty fish store lipids in fat cells distributed in other body tissues
located in the subcutaneous tissue, in the belly flap muscle, and
in the muscles moving the fins and tail. 5
 Lipids are composed of fatty acids.
R–COOH where R is a hydrocarbon chain

 The hydrocabon chain length of fatty acids in fishes generally range from C14 to C24
although C12 and C26 are also found.
 monounsaturated (15-40%), saturated (20-35%), and polyunsaturated (38-51%) acids

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 SFA: No double bonds

 Palmitic acid (C16:0) and stearic (C18:0) most important

 Some odd number SFA pentadecanoic acid (C15:0) and margaric acid (C17:0) may be

present in small amount in some species.

 Recommended value of PUFA/ SFA is 0.45 for a balance diet.

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 MUFA:
 Crustacean: Palmitoleic (C16:1n-7) and oleic acids (C18:1n-9)
 Fresh water fishes: oleic acids (C18:1n-9)

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 Polyunsaturation: -3 or -6

 Marine oils are particularly rich in the two nutritionally important -3 PUFAs, namely, C20:5n-
3 (eicosapentaenoic acid—EPA) and C22:6n-3 (docosahexaenoic acid—DHA)

 Freshwater fish contain less -3 and more -6 PUFAs

 In marine fish: the ratio of polyenoic to saturated acids being 3:1 (highly unsaturated)
 In freshwater fish, the ratio is 1:1.

 -3 PUFAs are less sensitive to oxidation by lipoxygenases than -6

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 Pelagic fish are better sources of EPA and DHA than ground fish.
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 Red muscles > 2-5 times more lipid than white muscles.
 (as well as more B‐vitamins, glycogen and nucleic acids)

 In many species fat content increases during the feeding season and its
proportion decreases substantially after spawning.

 The lipid content is affected by external factors such as seasonal fluctuations

in the environmental conditions and availability of phytoplankton.

 In many pelagic fish, lipid contents ranging from 12 to 20% are found during
winter compared with 3–5% during summer.

 It is accepted that there is an inverse relationship between unsaturated fatty

acid content and environmental temperature for many marine fish 12
 Fish has less cholesterol than animal meat.

 Cholesterol is the main sterol in marine fish like haddock, pollock, salmon,
and crustaceans like shrimp and lobster.

 It has been reported that fish muscle is low in cholesterol, whereas shrimps,
prawns; squid and octopus are high in cholesterol.

 Freshwater fish muscle contains more cholesterol than marine fish.

 There were no significant correlations of cholesterol content of fish between

the catching season and the catching ground
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 Fish is a very poor source of carbohydrates.
 Fish store carbohydrate as glycogen in a level varying from 0.1 to 1%.
 * Oyster= 6.45 %, Spiny Lobster= 10.2% Blue crab= 12.5 % (glucose,
galactose and mannose).
 Glycogen:
 pH value
 Texture
 WHC
 Bacterial growth
 Colour
 Also occur as part of the chemical constituents of nucleotides in fish muscle. 15
 Fat-soluble vitamins (vitamin A, D, and E)
 Dependent on the species

 Lean fish: 25-50 IU of vitamin A

 Fatty Fish: Mackerel=100 IU; and Herring=1500 IU

 Warm water pelagic fish species such as tuna have a vitamin A content as high
as 10,000-250,000 IU/g of their liver oils.

 Vitamin E: 0.2 to 270 mg/100 g wet weight.

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 Water-soluble vitamins (B-complex and C)
 Less dependent on the species

 Vitamin B1, B2, B3, B12 = Large amount.

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 Fishes > animal.

 Mineral content: 0.6-1.5 % (marine fish and invertebrate)

 Shell fish> fin fish (almost twice)

 Macro-elements : sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, phosphorus

 Microelements :iodine, fluorine, selenium, manganese, cobalt

 Toxic metals: Mercury=1-2 ppm

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